Holiday
by Monolaymoo
Summary: Trauma Team spending the holiday. This is my first, so I hope this is alright.
1. Chapter 1

New Years

CR-S01 looked around confused. Everyone was chattering about, eating and drinking glasses of wine. Once more it was 11:40 in the night. The only reason why CR-S01 was even up was because he take the loud noises small popping sounds and others he couldn't identify except chattering.

"Hey kid!"

CR-S01 jumped before turning around.

"Dr. Cunningham! You scared me." the doctor said.

"Hah, really?," Gabriel laughed. "You're jumpy kid. Anyway, Happy New Years Eve kiddo!"

CR-S01 held a confused look to the slightly intoxicated diagnostician.

"What's with the look?" Gabriel asked.

"What's New Years Eve?" CR-S01 asked back quietly, even looking down in shame for not knowing.

Gabriel chocked on his drink.

"Are you serious kid?" Gabriel said in shock. Luckily, no one noticed from all the racket.

CR-S01 nodded feeling embarrassed because he felt it was something should know but didn't.

Gabriel sighed as he patted the surgeon's shoulder as if he was consoling him.

"Okay, listen kid. New Years is a holiday. We all celebrate the beginning of a new year." Gabriel explained.

That made sense to CR-S01. Explained why no one was working, the food, slightly intoxicated staff, and booming noises. Suddenly, a woman in a red kimono appeared beside Gabriel, causing him to jump like

CR-S01 had.

"What's this?" Tomoe asked.

"Agh, it's you Tomoe." Gabriel gasped. "How many times do I have to tell not to do that?"

"Sorry about that Dr. Cunningham." Tomoe apologized solemnly. "I was just wondering what you two were doing."

"Oh, I was explaining to the kid here what New Years is." Gabriel answered.

"Eh? You don't what New Years is?" Tomoe gasped.

CR-S01 nodded a little bit.

"Well, New Years is when we celebrate the coming of a new year. I like to celebrate by writing a New Years Resolution." Tomoe immediately said, unknown to her, Gabriel had already explained it .

"New Years Resolution?" CR-S01 asked.

"It's when we decided to do something for the entire year. Like being nicer or studying harder." Tomoe said.

"Mine is to practice more often so my skills as a surgeon and a warrior do not falter."

CR-S01 and Gabriel remained silent at Tomoe.

"Hey, enjoying yourselves I see."

It was Hank Freebird. To be more specific, Hank Freebird shouldering a drunk and almost passed out Maria Torres.

"Drunk again Maria?" Gabriel sighed.

"Anyway, what were you three chatting about?" Hank aasked

"Kid here doesn't know what New Years is." Gabriel answered.

"What?" Maria yelled groggily in shock, interrupting Hank. "How could you not know what New Years is?"

"I was in prison for eight years with almost no human contact. I'm lucky I can still interact normally with another person!" CR-S01 defended.

"Well it's still no excuse not to know what an international holiday is." Maria said with her arms crossed.

"Technically, it's New Years Eve. In a couple of minutes, it'll be New Years Day!" Hank pointed out.

"I almost forgot! The countdown!" Gabriel said in shock.

Soon, Tomoe disappeared without warning and Gabriel and Hank, dragging CR-S01 and Maria behind them, ran out to the flower garden of the hospital Where they met with Tomoe again.

"Countdown?" CR-S01 asked Gabriel while trying to catch his breath.

"We count down the final minutes of this year until it's January 1! Gabriel said excitedly.

"Well, how will we know if it's January 1?" CR-S01 asked. "The clock is inside."

All four grinned at him.

"Okay people!" a drunk Esha yelled out.

"Countdown starts at…"

"10, 9, 8..." everyone began chanting except CR-S01, who remained silent, nervous since this was his first time.

Gabriel, Tomoe, Hank, and Maria noticed it.

"C'mon kid!" Gabriel whispered.

"7, 6"

"It's not the way of honor not practicing traditions with friends!" Tomoe whispered.

"5, 4"

"Yeah. There's nothing to be ashamed of!" Hank urged.

"3, 2"

"Chant with us dammit!" Maria yelled as low as she could.

"1, 0!" everyone yelled, this time with CR-S01. As soon as everyone said zero, a bright burst of red light appeared in the sky with a loud boom could be heard by everyone. Some cheered as more shot up while some awed at the flaring lights. CR-S01 couldn't help but awe along with some at the beautiful lights.

"Not bad for a first!" Gabriel laughed as he slapped CR-S01's back.

"That wasn't too hard was it?" Hank laughed along.

"And wait till next year's party!" Maria laughed. "It'll be way bigger than this!"

CR-S01 didn't know what came over him. He suddenly couldn't help but laugh along with them.

"Well, happy New Year everyone!" Tomoe yelled.

"Same to you guys too!" Gabriel said.

"Cheers to a better year!" Hank smiled.

"Yeah!" Maria said as she pumped her fist in the air.

"Happy New Year to you too." CR-S01 laughed.

…

…

The next day…

"Are you guys alright?" CR-S01 asked.

"Y-Yeah…" Gabriel answered as he a bag of ice to his head.

"Ugh…" Maria groaned.

"Don't worry about them." Tomoe reassured. "They just have hangover. They'll be alright by tomorrow. It's Esha I'm worried about. She's never absent from the hospital."

"Piece of advice. Don't drink to much like them." Hank told CR-S01 who nodded as he stared at the diagnostician and first responder who groaned in unison.


	2. Chapter 2

Valentine's Day

CR-S01 couldn't help but notice the tense atmosphere in the air and that both patients and doctors alike were acting odd. For some strange reason, there were pink and red, heart-shaped balloons in some the rooms, several people were carrying roses, heart-shaped boxes, letters, or some gift of sorts and he could have sworn seeing several nurses slipping something into Gabriel's locker.

"Dr. Cunningham?" CR-S01 called to the diagnostician. "Why is everyone acting odd today?"

Gabriel laughed. "Why wouldn't they? It's Valentine's Day!"

CR-S01 realized immediately that this was another holiday he didn't know about. He meant to check on all the holidays so he wouldn't have to go through the embarrassment of having to ask another doctor about something that was a common knowledge but there's only so much he could do in a barred room.

"You don't what today is do you?" Gabriel asked.

CR-S01 shook his head.

Gabriel sighed. "Do you remember anything from your past other than medicine and Cumberland?" he asked.

"Just a few parts of my childhood but nothing more…" CR-S01 answered.

"Okay kid," Gabriel started explaining. "Valentines Day is the feast day of St. Valentine and the day people express their love for a certain person."

"Excuse me?" CR-S01 asked in surprise.

"Yeah, corny isn't it?" Gabriel said. "If you ask me, this has to be the worst of all the holidays."

"Why?" the surgeon asked.

"Why? I'll show you." Gabriel answered. He soon told CR-S01 to follow him to the lockers of the doctors. He opened his in front of CR-S01 and, without warning, a flood of letters fell from his locker to the floor obviously surprising the surgeon.

"I see now why you dislike it." CR-S01 said disbelief as stared at mountain of letters.

"If you think this is a pile, you should have seen Hank's. Last year. it couldn't even close because of all the letters stuffed in it!" Gabriel said.

"Where is Dr. Freebird anyway?" CR-S01 asked. "I need the report on the operation."

"Sorry kid. But maybe Tomoe might. She can look in the entire in a few minutes." Gabriel suggested.

"Okay. Where is Dr. Tachibana?" CR-S01 asked.

"Easy." Gabriel said.

After a few minutes of walking around, they finally stopped at a practice area behind Resurgem. Gabriel knew how Tomoe was, if she wasn't operating or eating, then she'd be practicing with some sort of old weapon he'd never heard of. And like his diagnosis, he was right. Tomoe was standing there with her butler, Hanzo, practicing her bow and arrow again. Gabriel shuddered, remembering what almost became of him.

"Yo, Tomoe!" Gabriel greeted.

"Dr. Cunningham!" Tomoe said happily but not before firing another arrow before putting it down. "What brings you here?"

"Kid here is looking for Hank for a report on an operation. Know where he is?" Gabriel asked.

"Hmm. I think I saw him with Claire a while ago in the fifth floor." Tomoe answered.

"Great. Thanks Tomoe!" Gabriel thanked.

"Wait, I think I'll come with you." Tomoe suggested.

"You don't need to Dr. Tachibana." CR-S01 said.

"Oh, it's no trouble." Tomoe said. "Besides, it's against the path of honor to leave before making sure the job is done. Even if it's not your own."

"Whatever Tomoe." Gabriel said with a shrug.

Tome was a big help. She disappeared, saying she would find Hank before reappearing again saying he was at the third floor. Unfortunately, when she asked him for the report, he answered…

"It's with Maria?" Gabriel said shock.

"Yes. He gave it to her to give to you since couldn't find you anywhere." Tomoe sighed.

"Great. Just great!" Gabriel yelled.

CR-S01 look at the two in surprise. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, you know when I said I hated Valentine's Day because of the packed locker?" Gabriel asked.

CR-S01 nodded.

"Well, in Maria's case, she despises it." Gabriel said.

"Despise?" CR-S01 said slightly confused.

"As in loathe, hate to an extreme!" Gabriel said. "If you think she's scary when she's angry, you should see here every Valentine's Day. That makes her angry version look like a rabbit!"

CR-S01 gulped a little bit. He already seen what happens when Maria got angry-twice! He just couldn't imagine it being possible Maria being any scarier than that and it was. CR-S01 quivered a bit from the thought.

"Anyway, she's on the roof." Tomoe informed.

"Well, good luck kid." Gabriel said as he left the two.

"You aren't coming Dr. Cunningham?" CR-S01 asked.

"Of course not." Gabriel answered. "I don't wanna get killed!" And with that the diagnostician fled.

"I would go too but I have an operation to do." Tomoe said before disappearing from CR-S01's sight.


	3. Chapter 3

CR-S01 couldn't stop shaking as he made his way to the roof. Unlike most doctors, CR-S01 wasn't afraid to admit he was terrified of Maria. Normally though he would ignore his fear of confronting an angry Maria, but he was alone this time and wasn't just any angry Maria. Judging by how frightened Gabriel acted, even

CR-S01 knew that "angry" was too soft for the description. All he could do was brace himself for whatever Maria would throw at him. He finally reached the top floor. All he had to do now was open the door in front of him and he would be on the roof. As he reached down to the knob, he muttered to himself over and over "It's for the patient. It's for the patient. It's for the patient. It's for the-"

When he opened the door. He saw Maria sitting on the roof, watching the sky.

"Hard to believe she's scary." CR-S01 thought.

Almost on cue, Maria turned back to see CR-S01. He couldn't help but wince either from shock or fear.

"What do you want?" Maria asked angrily.

"Just the report on the operation." CR-S01 said in the most serious tone he could, hoping not to sound scared.

"Oh, that." Maria said almost uncaringly. "Here."

CR-S01 was surprised. As he took the report off Maria hands, he couldn't help but wonder why people thought she was scary. Suddenly, Maria asked. "Let me guess. Gabe told you I was scary on Valentine's Day?"

CR-S01 blinked in surprise. "How did-"

"You're not very good at hiding your emotions are you?" Maria interrupted. "Well, it turns they're right except I just get cranky more often on Valentine's that's all."

"About what?" CR-S01 asked.

Maria stayed quiet. CR-S01 remained quiet as well. After a few minutes of silence, Maria decided to break it with a question.

"Can you keep a secret?"

CR-S01 felt surprised by the question.

"Okay."

"Good!" Maria said. "Well, did Hank ever tell you the time I burned down my orphanage?''

CR-S01 didn't answer. All he did was stare at Maria in a mix of surprise and fear.

"Guess not." Maria said. "I was 14 when it happened. I was smoking in the bathroom when it accidentally got out of hand."

CR-S01 sighed in relief a bit. Accidentally meant it wasn't intentional.

"Anyway," Maria continued. "while I was running, I heard this crying. A voice calling for help."

"What did you do?" CR-S01 asked.

"What did you think I did?" Maria scoffed. "I saved her of course! She kept thanking me over and over."

"Sounds like you made quite a friend." CR-S01 chuckled.

"It was Rosalia." Maria bluntly interrupted. CR-S01's eyes widened.

"You saved Rosalia?" CR-S01 asked in shock.

"Of course." Maria answered proudly.

"But how does this have to do with your attitude on Valentine's Day?" CR-S01 asked. The moment the surgeon pointed this out, the first responder's face darkened.

"Because I'm proud." Maria answered.

"Huh?" CR-S01 asked, confused once again.

"I hate being wrong." Maria suddenly said. "And I hate it even more when I make mistakes. That fire was the worst I ever made. I made that happen many years ago on this day."

Now the surgeon was starting to understand. People sometimes have a lot of ego and therefore, a lot of pride. They dislike anything that could damage that pride. They hate it even more if they are the ones who did it. "But you saved a life!" CR-S01 quickly pointed out.

"It doesn't matter." Maria said. "I was the one who caused the fire remember? If I hadn't caused, her life wouldn't have been endangered in the first place."

CR-S01 remained quiet. He never had much human interaction. So he never knew how to do things like motivating or consoling. He wanted to help Maria but he just couldn't think how. CR-S01 walked down in the hallways. He thought maybe walking would give him an idea but as it turns out, it was a lot harder than he expected. Sure reminding of the good she had done afterwards might help but this was a different situation. He needed something else since this was worse than her normal angry self. Suddenly, a bump was heard and the surgeon was knocked followed by sounds of falling boxes and rains of letters falling on him.

"I'm sorry about that." CR-S01 quickly apologized as he instinctively began picking up the letters.

"Oh, hey!" the voice said. It was Gabriel who said it . " You're alive kid." Gabriel laughed.

"What is all this?" CR-S01 asked as he pointed at the scattered boxes and letters .

"Oh, these?" Gabriel asked. "Valentine chocolate and cards. I'm gonna throw the letters away but I don't what to do with chocolate. I'd eat them, but I'm not too fond of sweets. So I decided to give 'em away to anyone who might eat them which reminds me."

Suddenly Gabriel bent down and picked up one of the boxes and handed it to the surgeon.

"But I don't eat sweets." CR-S01 tried to reason.

"Then give it to someone else." Gabriel said as he began picking up the fallen boxes.

"Like who?' CR-S01 asked.

"I don't know." Gabriel answered. "A nurse? Women love that chocolate stuff."

"What?" CR-S01 asked immediately which surprised Gabriel.

"Well yeah." the diagnostician answered. "It's been proven to even make people feel happier."

That was just the CR-S01 needed. "Thanks, Dr. Cunningham." CR-S01 thanked before handing all the letters and boxes he picked up and handed them to Gabriel before running back to the roof.

"H-Hey wait1" Gabriel called out but it was useless.

Maria look at the sky. She was a bit surprised about how peaceful it was that day. Normally a nurse would pop in yell about some emergency and she would just run off to do her job as an E.M.T. she soon got up to go downstairs. As she closed the door behind her she soon the red-eyed surgeon again.

"You? What are you doing here?" Maria asked.

CR-S01 nearly jumped from surprise. "I wanted to give these to you."

For some reason, after CR-S01 noticed that Maria immediately turned bright red and became speechless, if you didn't count her odd stuttering.

"M-M- Me?" she asked practically screaming.

"Yes" CR-S01 answered. "It's a thank you for saving Rosalia."

Maria seemed to calm down after that.

"I told you it doesn't matter! I caused the fire remember?" Maria said in an irrated tone.

"And you saved my sister." CR-S01 said.

"But I was the reason that happened remember?" Maria argued.

"And you were the reason she lived." CR-S01 argued back.

A short silence between the two emerged. Maria finally sighed. "Why are you doing this?" Maria asked.

"Because." CR-S01 said. "I was like that. Somehow. I only focused on what I had done in the past so much that I stopped moving forward. It wasn't until Holden told me that I realized. There's no changing what happened no matter what we do. All we can do is try to do what we can for the brighter future."

Maria stared starred at him for a few minutes before bursting into laughter which hurt CR-S01's feelings a bit since he just wanted to consol Maria, not get laughed at.

"That's so corny!" Maria laughed.

"H-Hey! I only did this because I can't stand seeing anyone depressed!" CR-S01 said.

But Maria continued to laugh for three minutes, which hurt the prisoner more. He did what he could to hold back crying. Finally after several more minutes, Maria finally began to stop laughing.

"Oh wow. Haha…You seriously need to stop… Ahaha!" Maria cried as she laughed.

*sob* CR-S01 thought.

Suddenly Maria got up and swiped the box off CR-S01 hands.

"Thanks." she said before giving the surprised surgeon a punch in the shoulder which CR-S01 couldn't understand.

"What was that for?" CR-S01 asked as he rubbed his shoulder.

"That was a friendly punch." Maria answered. "People do as a sign of friendship or thanks."

"So do I take it as gratitude?" CR-S01 asked as he followed her down their stairs. Maria answered by punching in the shoulder.

"Was that another one?" CR-S01 asked.

"No. that was a normal punch" Maria answered as she popped one chocolate into her mouth. "Want one?"

CR-S01 didn't like sweets. But one wouldn't hurt he thought as he took one.

"So thanks for saving my sister again." CR-S01 said. He expected for Maria to argue again. But all she did was give him another soft punch in the shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

"Come on Navel." the man muttered to himself. " You can do this. Just walk up that door and give her the chocolate."

With his hands and legs shaking and his face cold from his own sweat, Navel stood out Naomi's home. "You worked for Delphi, you're in the FBI. It can't be that hard to give a woman chocolate." he told himself. "Dammit! Why is this so hard?" he thought.

He didn't know it but a little girl stood in front of the window, staring at the man, pacing and talking to himself.

"What are you looking at?" Naomi asked her daughter.

"Why is Mr. Navel acting funny, Naomi?" Alyssa asked curiously.

Naomi went to look out the window. Sure enough, she saw Navel pacing in a circle while obviously muttering some inaudible words. At some point, he began kicking a pebble, apparently starting to mutter the words louder. "I'll go see what's wrong. Alyssa, stay here." Naomi said

"Okay!" Alyssa said cheerily.

"Maybe I should just leave in the mailbox. Like those anonymous admirers." Navel thought.

"What are you doing Little Guy?"

"Dr. Kimishima?" Navel yelled as jumped. "I was just um…ah-"

"Think Navel! Think!" he thought.

"Are you alright?" Naomi asked.

"Chocolate! For you!" he yelled little nervously which surprised Naomi. Even making her jump.

"Really?" Naomi said. "Thanks Little Guy."

Navel felt a surge of relief. "That wasn't so hard." he thought. He began mentally laughing at himself for over-reacting.

"So who's it from?" Naomi asked.

Navel's feeling's of relief were quickly changed to a feeling of a cold shock running through him.

"W-What?" Navel asked.

"Who is the chocolate from?" Naomi asked.

"Are you serious Dr. Kimishima?" Navel asked in disbelief.

"Of course Little Guy." Naomi answered.

Navel couldn't believe his own ears. The great medical examiner, Naomi Kimishima, didn't know who even sent a box of chocolate when it was so obvious.

"Me, doctor!" Navel answered.

"Oh?" Naomi said.

"Yes! I even hand-made it myself!" Navel said.

"Why thank you Little Guy. You really are a good friend." Naomi said with a small smile.

"F-Friend?" Navel asked in surprise.

"Of course." Naomi answered. "What else?"

Navel didn't say anything. He was too speechless to talk. All he could do was turn to leave. As he did, cried a bit. *sob* he thought. Unknown to him that somewhere in a hospital, someone, specifically, a prisoner, was thinking the exact same thing.

As Navel left, Naomi returned to her home.

"Hey Naomi!" Alyssa greeted. "Ooh, is that chocolate?"

"Of course it is." Naomi answered. "Hand-made too. Would you like some?"

"Yay! Thanks Naomi!" Alyssa cheered. "What is it Mr. Navel?"

"Who else?" Naomi answered. "Honestly. I can't believe he actually bought it. I should tell him it was an act but it's so much more fun seeing him like this."

"Hey, Naomi? What's so funny?" Alyssa asked


	5. Chapter 5

I finally got this right. I've been trying to write this for above line thing for a while. Anyway, thanks for the comments. One commenter said I should do Easter. I still haven't decided that yet.

* * *

April Fool's

A scream erupted from a hospital in Portland. It was neither a scream of sadness nor of shock. It was a scream of a victim. Not that surprising since it was the first of April.

"GAAH!" Maria screamed angrily.

CR-S01 heard the scream from down the hall and immediately rushed to see what was wrong. "Maria, what's-" CR-S01 stopped after that. He didn't know whether to laugh or ask what was going. It was a no brainer. "Uh, Maria, why are you-"

"DON'T ASK!" Maria screamed. Her face was probably red with anger but it was difficult to see through the clown make-up on her face. Just then, Gabriel walked by.

"April Fools Maria!" the diagnostician laughed.

"GRR!" Maria fumed. She immediately charged at Gabriel but was stopped by CR-S01.

"Let me go dammit!" she screamed but CR-S01 continued to hold Maria back until he finally lost his grip but by then Gabriel managed to get away.

"Gaah!" Maria screamed.

"April Fools?" CR-S01 said.

"Yeah." Maria grumbled. "It's a stupid holiday where people play pranks on each other."

"Why?" CR-S01 asked.

"How you should I know?" Maria yelled. "Help me get this clown stuff of me."

CR-S01 spent the next hour helping Maria rid herself of the clown make-up.

"Argh!" Maria grumbled. "That's it! This year, I'm gonna get back at Gabe!"

CR-S01 decided to speak against the idea. Violence begets violence after all. "I don't think this-"

"And you're gonna help me!" Maria told CR-S01.

"What? Why?" CR-S01asked in shock.

"If it hadn't been for you. Gabe wouldn't gotten away in the first place!" Maria said.

"But-" CR-S01 attempted to defend.

"No buts!" Maria interrupted. "Now, c'mon!"

…

"Why are we-"

"SHUSH!" Maria whispered.

The two stared at Gabriel's office. "Once he goes in his room and opens soda bottle. The plan will have worked!" Maria gloated quietly.

"But why are we in front of the room?" CR-S01 asked.

"So we can say "April Fools!" to him." Maria answered.

"Why?" CR-S01 continued.

"To gloat!" Maria answered. CR-S01 didn't ask anymore. All he did was sigh at this childishness.

"Okay he's here!" Maria whispered.

Gabriel was walking to his office. As soon as he entered, he immediately saw the soda on his desk.

"Won't he get suspicious that a appeared from nowhere?" CR-S01 questioned.

"Don't worry." Maria reassured "It was already there. All I did was put a mentos tied to string there. He won't notice the difference! I learned it on an internet site."

CR-S01 slumped, feeling a tad bit guilty. He felt like some sort of accomplice to a criminal.

"Really?" a voice asked from behind the two.

Suddenly, a black liquid hit the two the doctors, drenching both of them and making them sticky.

"Nice try Maria." Gabriel laughed. "But I don't remember putting the lid on so tightly."

"Grrr…" Maria muttered. CR-S01 remained quiet, but something was different. But neither of the two noticed. The two saw the diagnostician laugh as he left.

"Excuse me…" CR-S01 muttered as he left. "I have something to do…"

"Hey-" Maria said as the surgeon left but he already entered a nearby elevator. "Tsk. Looks like I'm on my own on this one."

…

Maria began pacing through the halls thinking of a way to beat Gabriel. "Alright, think Maria. Who could best Gabe in pranks…" Then a thought occurred to her. "Pranks is another word for harmless traps right?"

"TOMOE!"

…

"Hey, Tomoe!" Maria called. Tomoe was practicing her bow and arrow again at the practice range.

"Oh, hello there Maria." Tomoe greeted politely. "What brings you here?"

"I need your help to prank Gabe!" Maria said.

"But I can't help you with that Maria." Tomoe said apologetically. "To prank someone for fun is against the way path of honor."

"It's not for fun!" Maria said. "I just want to get back at him for all the pranks he did to me."

"Revenge is not the way of honor either." Tomoe said.

"C'mon Tomoe!" Maria pleaded. "Just this once, please?"

"But-" Tomoe began to say.

"Please, please, please, please, please-" Maria began begging.

"Maria…" Tomoe said.

"Please, please, please, please, please-"

"Uhh…" Tomoe began to waver.

"Please, please, please-"

…

"Thank you, thank you, thank you-" Maria continued to say.

"Alright already! Tomoe said quietly.

"So what's the plan?" Maria asked.

"Just a trap. As soon as he trips the wire, flour will cover his entire body." Tomoe said the feeling of guilt began to sink in.

"You're a genius Tomoe!" Maria complimented. Tomoe blushed a bit but then again, she was a ninja. Setting traps were one her specialties. She just hoped Gabriel wouldn't be to mad about this.

"Okay, the victim's here." Maria said.

"Forgive me Dr. Cunningham…" Tomoe thought.

Gabriel began to walk by. He chuckled silently to himself as he remembered the surgeon and the first respondent's first attempt to prank him. He could still remember the look on Maria's face. As he walked through the gardens, he couldn't help but notice something glinting in from light.

Soon a loud thump sound was heard, like something falling. Tomoe and Maria stood to see Gabriel felt for the trap. The two were shocked. The trap had been tripped and flour was scattered on the grass but next to it was Gabriel, clean with a stick in his hand. "Nice try Maria!" he laughed.

Maria was completely furious that she couldn't even speak. Tomoe only stood, baffled of how her trap failed. "I can see things like twitches that last for seconds. You don't actually think I wouldn't notice a piece of string do you?" Gabriel gloated. Tomoe felt slightly ashamed that she failed to fool someone at something so simple as a trap after all the years of training that she couldn't even say that it wasn't the path of honor to gloat. The saw the Gabriel walk away as he laughed, leaving the two fuming and irritated.

…

Tomoe and Maria sighed to themselves. How could she get back at Gabe was what Maria wondered. Tomoe was busy wondering what went wrong. She never failed at this, never!

"You two look a bit down." Hank said as he walked near them. "What's wrong?"

"Gabriel Cunningham!" Maria Tomoe groaned. The two explained their dilemma to Hank.

"I see…" Hank said. "But you're both grown adults. You shouldn't stoop to such childishness."

"You're right Dr. Freebird." Tomoe sighed. "I suppose I was acting rather childish"

"Maria?" Hank said.

"But-" Maria tried to defend. "I just can't. I mean, he embarrassed for so many years…"

"But look CR-S01, instead of taking revenge, he walked away." Hank stated.

"Argh…" Maria said. "Fine, I'll stop trying to take revenge."

Just then, a loud boom sound erupted through the hallways. Everyone jumped from shock.

"What was that?" Hank said.

"I think it came there!" Tomoe pointed out.

They were soon shocked to see black smoke seeping out Gabriel's office. Soon the diagnostician burst out the door, coughing out smoke and covered in black but didn't seem to have any injuries except some 1st degree burns maybe but nothing too serious.

"All right," Gabriel said angrily. "Maria, I get that you're angry but you didn't have to throw bang snaps all over my floor or rig my drawers with mini-smoke bombs." The two looked at Maria in shock.

"I know you're angry Maria but that was a little too far!" Tomoe gasped.

"No, no. I didn't do that!" Maria defended.

"Well, I don't know anyone else who would." Gabriel said as he dusted off the sooth.

"Hey." CR-S01 interrupted.

"Hey kid." Gabriel greeted. "We're just thinking how this happened." Gabriel said as he pointed to his office.

"They think I did it!" Maria said angrily. "C'mon, you believe me right?"

"Of course." CR-S01 replied.

"Really?" all three asked. CR-S01 nodded. "Speaking of which, is it tradition to say "April Fools" after he prank done has succeeded?"

"Yeah." Gabriel answered.

"Oh… April Fools then." CR-S01 said.

All four blinked in shock. "You did that?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes." CR-S01 answered. "It turns out I greatly dislike it when a trick has been on me." The way the surgeon said it was frightening. His red eyes normally were compassionate or calm but now it was almost filled complete rage. His voice sent shivers down their spine and his appearance drastically changed that frightened even the brave Maria. "Excuse me, I need to do something." CR-S01 said before leaving. Everyone was shivering slightly behind.

…

The next day, everything was back to normal. CR-S01 was back to his old self and acted as if nothing happened. But one to was sure, since that day, no one had ever dared try to play tricks on the surgeon again. As for Gabriel Cunningham, he never played tricks again except on the following:

Maria Torres

Hank Freebird

Esha Patel

Naomi Kimishima

And several staff members


	6. Chapter 6

Easter

Now CR-S01 didn't know if he was losing it. Rabbits and eggs everywhere. This can't actually be a real holiday can it?

"It's Easter." Gabriel answered to the surgeon. "Christians and any other religion connected to it celebrate their Saviour rising from the dead."

"And the rabbits and eggs?" CR-S01 asked. Gabriel shrugged.

"Don't know. Speaking of which, were gonna play Easter egg-hunt. Wanna join?"

"Easter egg-hunt?" CR-S01 asked.

"Yeah." Gabriel said. "You hunt for hidden eggs in the garden. Patients will be joining too."

"Is that safe?" CR-S01 asked.

"Don't worry kid." Gabriel smirked. "Only the really healthy ones were sure about."

CR-S01 still didn't feel right about. But still, he wasn't doing anything that day, playing a game outside was better than staying inside a barred room all day.

…

"No way! You actually came?" Maria laughed.

"It was better than staying in a barred room." CR-S01 defended.

"Well, I'm just glad everyone is here." Hank said.

"Not that it'll change the outcome." Gabriel said with shrug. "Everyone it'll be Tomoe and her partner who'll be winning."

"Don't say that Dr. Cunningham." Tomoe said.

"You won three years in a row." Gabriel pointed out.

"It still doesn't say I'll win this year." Tomoe argued.

"Wait," CR-S01 interrupted. "we're being partnered?"

"Yeah," Maria answer. "by random actually, we pick numbers off a box and we get partnered with anyone who has the same number."

"Speaking of which," Hank said. "looks like they're starting."

"C'mon!" Maria screamed. Soon everyone ran to a set of white boxes placed on the field. As they did, they saw a familiar face who never appeared as much at the hospital.

"Naomi?" Gabriel laughed.

"Yes Gabe." Naomi sighed. "Hello everyone. How have you been doing?"

"Quite fine, Dr. Kimishima." Tomoe said with a smile. "May I ask what you are doing here?"

"Gabe invited me." Naomi sighed.

"And accepted." Gabriel said.

"Only because Alyssa wanted to." Naomi said.

"She's here?" Maria asked. She could still remember the little girl. She was so adorable but CR-S01 didn't really think much of it. They both still could hardly believed she survived after being so close to a bomb.

"Yes." Naomi smiled. "And brought a friend too. She met him in school."

"Who?" Hank asked.

"I don't know, when I told her about the Easter egg-hunt, she wanted it to be a surprise." Naomi smiled.

"So you don't know anything?" Gabriel asked.

"Only that Alyssa enjoys playing with his hair because, according to her, it's big and fluffy like a bush." Naomi said.

"Umm…" CR-S01 mumbled. "The numbers?"

As soon as he said that, everyone snapped back to reality and immediately rushed to the boxes save for Naomi who walked calmly with the surgeon who was surprised to see the clamoring people over the boxes. He thought it would be impossible to get a number though he eventually did after thirty minutes of struggling in a crowd.

"Whose 21?" CR-S01 asked out loud.

"That'd be me kid!" Gabriel answered as he waved his number.

"Looks like I'll be winning this year!" Maria gloated. "I got Tomoe!" Tomoe remained to Maria's side, laughing nervously.

"So who did you get, big guy?" Gabriel asked.

"Number 39." Hank answered.

"Apparently, 43." Naomi said. "Has anyone seen Alyssa?"

…

"Do you see Naomi anywhere?" Alyssa asked concerned.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

"Ooh!" Alyssa said gleefully. "There she is!" The two charged towards the six.

"Naomi!" she called out.

"Alyssa!" Naomi said as she hugged her adopted daughter.

"Told you she was here somewhere!"

Everyone looked down and had a shocked looked on their faces. The most shocked of them all Gabriel which was apparent since he had dropped his cigarette but still remained oblivious to it. "Joshua?" he yelled.

"Yeah doctor!" Joshua smiled. "When me and Alyssa found out about this we decided to surprise you and Naomi about it!"

"Naomi, Naomi!" Alyssa interrupted. "I got the number 43!"

"Well, it looks like we're partners." Naomi said to Alyssa which made the girl smile.

"Yay!" the girl cheered.

"I got 39!" Joshua said proudly.

"Guess it's you and then me." Hank said to Joshua.

"People!" Esha called out. "The games will begin soon! All of you know the rules, some of the staff members will go to you and bind your legs together. You are to work as a team in order to find the most eggs or the golden egg to win. The winners will win this basket of chocolate."

"That's what everyone fights for? Chocolate?" CR-S01 asked.

"Isn't it good?" Alyssa squealed.

"I'm definitely winning this!" Joshua said. Soon people some staff members began approaching them. After checking the numbers, they bound everyone's legs together. CR-S01 to Gabriel, Maria to Tomoe, Hank to Joshua, and finally, Naomi to Alyssa.

"Okay everyone." Esha called out again. "Is everyone with their partners?"

Everyone replied a "Yes!"

"Good. The eggs are only hidden in the garden so don't look anywhere else outside the garden. You have an hour to find them. Game starts…NOW!"

Soon everyone scattered everywhere, squatting to search for eggs hidden in the bushes, flowers, hole, and rocks. Some searched the trees and some even attempted too climb but it's hard with one leg tied to another's.

"C'mon kid!" Gabriel urged the surgeon. "Do you want to lose?" But it was only CR-S01's first time so it wasn't surprising that he found it hard to move around without tripping.

"Argh!" Gabriel yelled on the fifth trip. "Why'd I have to get the newbie?" CR-S01 felt bad a bit.

So far thirty minutes passed. Everyone was still searching, hoping to find any eggs that were left unfound.

Gabriel and CR-S01 found fifteen. CR-S01 also finally managed to get the hang of walking in unison with another person without tripping. Tomoe and Maria were ahead of everyone. Thirty-two was a lot.

Naomi and Alyssa collected twenty. Naomi had a hard time since Alyssa was excited and ran fast. It was already hard enough for Naomi to run with her leg bound to someone smaller than her likewise do it while running. Hank and Joshua were so far doing better. Twenty-five was far better than Gabriel and CR-S01's or Naomi and Alyssa's. It probably had to do with Joshua inheriting his father's talent of observation coupled with Hank's ability to keep up with the boy. But when you're trying to find some plastic eggs on the ground, rocks, and trees, there's really nothing else to do but talk.

"Dr. Cunningham?" CR-S01 asked as he searched the flowers.

"What is it kid?" Gabriel asked.

"Why doesn't Joshua know that-"

"Stop there!" Gabriel interrupted. "I don't want to talk about that, okay?" CR-S01 remained quiet. He still couldn't help but wonder why Joshua didn't know who Gabriel was.

*sigh* Joshua said in a low voice.

"What's wrong?" Hank asked in a concerned tone.

"Nothing." Joshua replied but he remembered the words of the diagnostician. "But, I kinda wish my dad was here, that's all."

Hank felt bad for the boy. Or maybe he felt for Gabriel. It must hurt not knowing who your father is and likewise the father never being able to even so much as hold his son despite being so close.

"Don't worry." Hank reassured Joshua. "Who knows? Maybe he's watching us right now."

Joshua smiled. "Thanks doctor!"

"Fifteen minutes!" Esha called out. Everyone soon began rushing to find either as many eggs left unfound or the golden egg.

"This game is as good as ours!" Maria cheered.

"Not yet Maria." Tomoe said. "We win when Esha says we won. Nothing's been decided yet."

"Aww." Maria moaned. Soon she noticed Gabriel and CR-S01 searching a bush. "Hey!"

"Oh, Maria!" CR-S01 greeted.

"No greeting the enemy." Gabriel said sternly.

"What's his problem?" Maria whispered to CR-S01.

"I asked him why Joshua doesn't know who he is." CR-S01 replied as low as he could.

"What?." Maria said. "That's the most insensitive thing to ask!"

"But I really don't know." CR-S01 said.

"Oh right!" Maria snapped. "He's suppose to tell his biological son that he's his father who was never there for him because he was busy working! I can't imagine anything worse than that!"

"What about being framed by him and receiving a 250 sentence?" CR-S01 asked.

"Oh right. Sorry." Maria said.

"It's alright." CR-S01 said. "I'm not angry at Prof. Sartre but I just don't know why… I mean, I understand that he did it so he could escape with Rosalia but… I mean…" CR-S01 stopped there. He didn't know what to say or think. He understood but at the same time he didn't understand why Prof. Sartre did it. To get away of course but, could it actually compel man so much to frame his own son?

"Have you found anything?" Gabriel asked.

"Nothing." CR-S01 answered.

"Well, let's check there." Gabriel said before leaving with the surgeon.

Maria felt bad for CR-S01. It was already bad enough his real parents hated him and died, but to be framed by his own foster father, receiving 250 year sentence, and then to discover the only family he had left that actually loved him, all dead. She's surprised he didn't take it too hard in any way like when he stopped doing surgeries after she… that misunderstanding between her and him.

"Maybe there's some over there!"

"Joshua. Dr. Freebird." Tomoe said.

"Doctor!" Joshua greeted.

Maria couldn't but ruffle Joshua's hair while laughing. He was just to cute!

"So how many eggs have you got?" Maria asked.

"That's a secret." Joshua answered proudly.

"Heh." Maria chuckled. "No matter! We'll be winning!"

"Tough for someone who's losing!" Joshua taunted. Tomoe and Hank sighed.

Gabriel and CR-S01 were continuing to search for any eggs left. Eventually, Gabriel decided to give up since there was only five minutes left.

"Okay kid." Gabriel said as he sat on the ground. "How many so far?"

"Twenty…" CR-S01 counted.

"Oh well." Gabriel sighed. "Not bad for a first time kid."

"We should still look around." CR-S01 suggested. "Maybe at those trees…"

"Nah." Gabriel said. "There'll probably be nothing there. Let's go turn in."

CR-S01 followed Gabriel back. As they did, Alyssa and Naomi and saw the trees the surgeon pointed out already. "Let's check there Naomi!" Alyssa said before running to them.

"Please slow down a bit Alyssa." Naomi said tiredly.

"Ooh!" Alyssa said. "Look at this Naomi!"

…

Gabriel went back to where everyone gathered to turn in the numbers of eggs they've collected.

"We're gonna win!" Joshua argued.

"No, we are!" Maria argued back.

"What are you two doing?" Gabriel asked.

"C'mon doctor!" Joshua told Gabriel! "Tell her that I'm gonna be the one winniing!"

"Tell yo- Tell Joshua we're gonna the ones winning!" Maria said.

Gabriel sighed.

"Okay everyone!" Esha called out. "I will announce the winners of the Easter egg-hunt!"

"Third place-Gabriel Cunningham and CR-S01!" CR-S01smiled a bit. Gabriel didn't seem to react.

"Second place-a tie between Tomoe Tachibana and Maria Torres and Hank Freebird and Joshua Cunningham!"

Joshua's eyes widened a bit. "Doctor has the same last name as me?" he thought. Gabriel smacked his head with his palm. "Esha…" he thought. " Hank realized that the situation had suddenly more dramatic while Tomoe began to fidget with worry while looking at the young boy and the diagnostician. Maria and CR-S01 didn't seem to notice. CR-S01 thought he could do better next year while Maria thought how Joshua and Hank managed to tie with her and Tomoe.

"And first place- Naomi Kimishima and Alyssa Breslin, who have the golden egg!"

Everyone clapped for the forensic investigator and the little girl. Joshua felt bad he lost to Alyssa but still clapped anyway along everyone. Tomoe and Hank didn't feel bad at all. They were just happy for Alyssa and Naomi.

"It was hidden there!" Alyssa smiled as she pointed to the trees. CR-S01 and Gabriel immediately recognized it. Gabriel groaned to himself while CR-S01 shrugged it off as bad luck and mentally noting not to commit the same mistake again. Alyssa kept laughing as she received the prize while Naomi smiled at her daughter.

Soon everyone left, including CR-S01, Hank Tomoe and Maria, all except two of the doctors who met up with Alyssa and Joshua.

"I won! I won!" Alyssa said as she skipped.

Joshua grinned. "Congratulations Alyssa!" Gabriel was still a bit tense since technically, his identity was revealed.

"Here Joshua!" Alyssa said while giving Joshua some of her chocolate.

"Thanks Alyssa!" Joshua thanked.

"C'mon Alyssa." Naomi said gently. "It's getting late. I have to work tomorrow." Soon Alyssa waved good-bye to Joshua. Naomi gave a small thumbs-up to Gabriel for whatever would happen next.

"Say doctor?" Joshua asked Gabriel. "We have the same last names."

Gabriel didn't speak. What was he suppose to do? Say sorry for not telling him who was or not being there for him? Explain to him why he divorced with Lisa? Why he never had time for his own son? Gabriel began to open his mouth to speak but before he could.

"Isn't that cool?" Joshua said.

"Huh?" Gabriel asked.

"First we have the same hair and eyes and stuff," Joshua pointed out. "now even our last names are the same! Isn't that cool?"

Gabriel stared at his own son in surprise from his son's comment. "Uh…I guess…" Gabriel answered nervously.

"Wait till mom hears about this!" Joshua said before leaving. "Bye doctor!"

"Bye Joshua." Gabriel laughed.

…

"Hey mom!" Joshua called out.

"Joshua!" Lisa said. "How was your day?"

"Good!" Joshua grinned. "I got second placed!"

"Really?" Lisa asked. "I'm sure you'll win next year!"

"Yeah!" Joshua smiled. "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes?" Lisa asked.

"Do you know that the doctor who saved has the same last name as me?" Joshua said.

Lisa's eyes widened. "Oh honey-"

"Isn't that a cool coincidence!" Joshua said. Lisa felt surprised by the words of her son.

"Uh…yes." Lisa said.

"Well," Joshua said oblivious to his mother's surprise. "I'll be upstairs!"

As she saw her son run up the stairs, she sighed. "Like father like son I suppose…" she thought.


	7. Chapter 7

I wrote this in a hurry. Sorry if it's terrible...

* * *

Mother's Day

"Mug? Why did I even think that? Vase? Cliché! A card? Now I'm running low on ideas…"

Joshua was going out of his mind in his room. What could buy for his mother? Whatever it was, it had to be something that wasn't so traditional. Joshua sighed to himself. Maybe he could ask someone who knew his mom. But no way was he going to any of his mom's friends. She worked with them so he'd be found out if he asked. Was there anyone else? Then he remembered something. While he was being examined, the doctor said his mother's name for a second. Joshua snapped his fingers.

"The doctor!"

…

Gabriel yawned in his office as he sat lazily on his chair with his feet on the desk. Surprisingly to the doctor, almost no patient came. Either people were surprisingly staying healthy or they thought they were healthy at least. As he got up, a nurse came in.

"You have a visitor Dr. Cunningham."

Gabriel yawned. "Tell them to leave."

"It's Joshua." Gabriel raised an eyebrow the minute he heard Joshua's name.

"What?" Gabriel asked.

"He said he needed help on something." the nurse said. "He's waiting outside at the lobby." Gabriel couldn't help but be surprised that his son suddenly came to ask him for help. He got up to leave to the lobby. As soon as he turned to lobby, Joshua was walking around as he waited for the diagnostician. When he turned to a corner of a hallway, he bumped into the diagnostician.

"Doctor!" Joshua said in surprise.

"Joshua!" Gabriel said in shock but quickly regained his composure. "You needed something?"

"You know her name right?" Joshua asked suddenly. "My mom's?"

Gabriel's body stiffened. He could feel that it wasn't like Easter. Joshua knew who he was.

"Let me explain Joshua." Gabriel said.

"Can you help me get my mom a present?" Joshua asked. Gabriel stared at the boy, dumbfounded.

"Are you serious?" Gabriel asked.

"Of course!" his son answered. "My mom's friends work with her so I can't ask them for help."

Gabriel sighed a bit. "Fine. I'll help you."

Joshua smiled. "Thanks doctor!"

Gabriel didn't know how his son couldn't put together that they were father and son. All he did was sigh to himself and help his boy in finding a gift for Lisa.

"One more thing doctor." Joshua asked. "Can you put in a budget of $50?"

…

"Joshua!" Lisa called out for her son.

"Mom!" Joshua said as he got out. "Happy Mother's Day!"

In his hands, was a large but adorable plushie. Lisa immediately fell for it. "It's so cute!"

Joshua felt slightly surprised by his mother's sudden change in personality and at her words. It sounded like something Alyssa would say. Lisa quickly realized her mistake and quickly regained her composure. "I-I mean… it's great Joshua." Lisa said. "How did you know I loved these kinds of things? I never told anyone because it was embarrassing."

"The doctor told me!" Joshua answered, utterly oblivious to his mother's surprised face.

"Ga-The doctor," Lisa began to say, "told you that?"

"Yup!" Joshua smiled. "He said he heard you say it once before." Lisa stared in surprise at Joshua before smiling.

"Thank you Joshua." Lisa said.

"You're welcome mom." Joshua smiled. As she saw her son leave. She couldn't help but still continue to look at the doll in surprise. She couldn't believe that he still remembered.

(You actually like these things?)

(How-)

(I can tell by how you look at them. But why would you like these?)

(It's cute. It's hard not to like them.)

(Their stuffed…things I guess.)

(You just say that because you don't want to admit you think it too!)

(What? Of course not! Why would I think anthropomorphic animals and personified food are cute?)

(Your such killjoy, you know that!)

Strangely, even after he said all those things, he still remembered it. Who knew that knowledge would be used? Gabriel sighed as he thought to himself that in his office. Soon his phone rang but Gabriel didn't even move a muscle to answer it. This is what he often did. It was already bad enough to deal with uncooperative patients all day, he didn't want to have deal with on other times he could spend lying on the couch. Eventually, he heard his phone beep.

…

"Gabriel?"

Gabriel nearly fell from hearing the voice. "Lisa?" he thought.

"Thanks." After that the machine made another beeping sound. Gabriel couldn't help make a small smile to himself.

"Gabe!" Maria said as she burst in "There's a patient for you. He's real stubborn."

Gabriel sighed to himself. But for some reason, he felt happy to do it.


	8. Chapter 8

Halloween

If rabbits were put everywhere for Easter then strange looking animals are supposed to be for…

"Happy Halloween!" the banner read. CR-S01 continued to look at it. He smiled to himself because unlike the others, this time, he knew what today was.

"What?" Maria asked. "No asking what to day is?"

"No Maria." CR-S01 answered slightly proud. Suddenly a chattering was heard down the hall. By the time CR-S01 looked back, he saw nothing but small children in costumes being led by Hank.

"Calm down." Hank said to the young ones. "We'll be leaving in a minute."

"Hey," Maria suddenly said to the surgeon. "That reminds me, we need someone to stay outside to give away candy to some of the kids who come here and I'm too busy to do it. Can you do it?"

Soon after Maria said it, she handed CR-S01 a bowl of candy. "But-" CR-S01 defended.

"Thanks!" Maria said before leaving. CR-S01 sighed to himself before leaving. Still, he had nothing to do for the afternoon so he didn't mind. He soon sat outside of Resurgem waiting for any children. Soon he noticed some heading his way

…

Maria walked down the hall to give a chart of a patient to Tomoe. As she walked down, she passed Gabriel who was sipping a cup of coffee.

"Happy Halloween, Gabe!" Maria greeted.

"You too Maria." Gabriel said back. "Aren't you suppose to be outside giving away candy?"

"Oh," Maria said. "I left CR-S01 with that." Gabriel nearly choked a bit.

"Wait," Gabriel said. "You left the kid, to give away candy?"

"Yeah." Maria answered. "Why?"

"You're assuming a kid won't run away screaming after seeing a sharp, red eyed prisoner in a doctor's coat?" Gabriel quickly pointed out. Maria immediately realized her mistake and started running to the entrance of Resurgem but it was far too late. She saw some children running away and crying while the surgeon was slumped on a pole, depressed.

"Uh-oh" Maria muttered to herself. Suddenly a small cry was heard from a far.

"Waah! That a man's eyes are so scary!" a child cried. "Waah!"

The surgeon's eye's widened a bit before he covered his eyes with his hand. Maria realized the situation was getting worse. Gabriel soon appeared at the entrance, tired from running all the way from the halls to the entrance. Of course, he was only tired because, unlike Maria, he wasn't as physically fit since stayed inside a room all dat till his shift was over.

"What'd I miss?" he asked. Crying children and a depressed surgeon said it all. "Maybe I should hand out the candy." Gabriel suggested before taking the bowl. Maria got CR-S01 and brought him back inside while Gabriel took a seat on the steps.

…

"I'm really sorry for that!" Maria apologized. "I didn't think kids would react that way!" But now that Maria thought about it, she did remember seeing some of the younger patients quiver a bit whenever CR-S01 look at them. That really should have clued her that the genius surgeon may not be good with children, with exceptions to Joshua and Alyssa.

"It's alright…" CR-S01 answered depressingly. "But do I really look that frightening?"

"What? Of course not!" Maria answered as she slapped his back. Suddenly a child appeared. He was a patient there they treated for a fractured arm.

"Hiya kid!" Maria greeted the boy. The boy smiled a shy smile, saying a small hello as he did. Maria practically wanted to squeeze him.

"Good afternoon." CR-S01 said. For some reason, unlike the child's reaction to Maria, he froze upon seeing the surgeon and instead of a greeting, he ran away. CR-S01 felt worse than before. Maria couldn't help but sigh to herself.

"Oh hey Maria!" Tomoe greeted. "About my reports…" she soon saw the depressed surgeon and Maria who placed her hand on her forehead. "Is everything alright?"

…

"Oh dear." Tomoe said. "Is that it."

"Yup." Maria said. CR-S01 didn't feel like doing much. Realizing he looked intimidating wasn't exactly what a person who was feared by his own parents needed. He thought they were just mentally unstable and it had nothing to do with him. He didn't think his looks were enough to reduce a child to crying. That felt worse than when Maria laughed at him and Gabriel's comment about his repeated tripping on Easter combined.

"Hey," Gabriel said as he came to the hallways. "I'm running low on candy. Can one of you guys run and get some more?"

"Sorry." Tomoe said. "I've an operation at four."

"I need to assist in another operation later." Maria said.

"Guess that leaves you kid!" Gabriel laughed.

"But I don't have any-"

"Here's my wallet kid." Gabriel said. "Now you have no excuse." CR-S01 left outside to find a market. Or at least one that doesn't go out range for a tracker placed on him by the FBI. Ever since the Rosalia outbreak, the FBI decided to, as a reward for helping exterminate the Rosalia virus, that he could continue doing operations and to be able walk around freely whenever he liked it, as long as he doesn't try to escape or go out of range of his tracker. After walking around the street and several times, receiving comments about his outfit being a costume. He finally found and a store in range.

…

"Candy! Candy!" Alyssa hummed. She skipped merrily down the stairs in her costume. She didn't dress like anything girly like a princess or a fairy. Having a forensic investigator for a mother can change how you think hence why Alyssa dressed like a one, with a lab coat and all.

"Slow down Alyssa!" Naomi called out. "You forgot your basket!"

"Thanks Naomi!" Alyssa smiled. "I'm so excited! I'm going trick-or-treating with Naomi!" Naomi smiled a bit. She felt glad that she had the day off. Of course, Navel had too but he went off on his own.

"C'mon Naomi!" Alyssa called. "Or all the candy will be gone!" Naomi chuckled before following her daughter outside.

…

Naomi was surprised at how fast a little girl could run. In ten minutes, Alyssa and Naomi had successfully visited twenty different houses. Naomi was also surprised at how many children went to go trick-or-treating. Each house had a crowd of children outside that Alyssa had to pass through each time to get to the doorstep. After visiting several more houses, Naomi stopped to take a breather.

"Slow down a bit Alyssa." Naomi asked but Alyssa was to concentrated on passing through the other children to listen. Naomi turned around to rest at a bench that was at the lawn of the house. As she did she bumped into a large, penguin mascot costume. "Oh. I apologize-"

Naomi's eyes widened at the man within the mascot. His eyes widened as well upon realizing the head of the costume had fallen off. Naomi was about say his name but he immediately shushed her before she could and quickly put on the head of the mascot. Luckily no one had seem to notice.

"Little Guy?" Naomi whispered. "What are-"

"What?" Navel said quickly. "A grown man can't trick-or-treat?" People began staring at the odd two. Navel quickly noticed and began pushing Naomi behind a tree that grew on the yard.

"H-Hey!" Naomi said.

"Sorry doctor." Navel said. "But this isn't the best place to talk!" After Navel shoved Naomi behind the tree, the two had a long discussion about Navel going to trick-or-treats despite being a grown man. But as they did, Naomi, though she hadn't meant it, had completely forgotten about her daughter.

"Look Naomi!" Alyssa said. "I got a whole lot and-" The little girl looked around for her mother. "Naomi?"

Unfortunately, because of the volume the children outside the house made, Naomi failed to hear it. Now Alyssa might have seen Naomi standing near the tree on the lawn, except the mascot costume Navel wore was large and tall. Someone could easily stand behind it and stay out of sight for a while and unfortunately, from Alyssa's point of view, Navel was in front of Naomi.

"Naomi? Naomi?" Alyssa called out again. Alyssa suddenly became slightly frightened. She had to be somewhere near. There was no way a mother would leave her child but Naomi wasn't seen anywhere either. For Alyssa, a frightened nine-year old, the only logical explanation was that Naomi was lost instead of her being lost. So what to do when your mother is lost. You find her of course!

"Naomi!" Alyssa called out. Soon Alyssa ran to the opposite of where Naomi was in an attempt to look for her.

* * *

This takes place year after the Rosalia Outbreak. CR-S01, despite remembering everything on the Cumberland Outbreak, he still hasn't remembered everything about his life yet except some flashes. But this is just an opinion. Remember, Trauma Team belongs to Atlus.

... Was that how it should be written?


	9. Chapter 9

"You get the day off and you spend it trick-or-treating?" Naomi sighed. Navel flustered a bit.

"There's nothing wrong with it!" he said, even flapping the wings of the mascot for effect. Naomi sighed to herself. She didn't have time for this.

"C'mon Alyssa." Naomi said, ignoring Navel's defensive words about his actions. But no one came. "Alyssa?

At that moment, her motherly instincts came in and Naomi began to worry. "Alyssa? Alyssa!"

Navel got the idea and quickly realized that a little girl was lost. "Calm down Doctor Kimishima!"

That did the trick. Naomi calm down a little bit. "This is no problem!" he said. "We found serial killers, psychopaths and a bunch of other scums! Finding a little girl won't be any problem!"

"Yes." Naomi said. "We should think this through. What would Alyssa do?"

…

Thirty minutes or more had passed. For Alyssa, it almost seemed like hours. She searched everywhere and couldn't find Naomi. To make matters worse, by the time Alyssa decided to go to CIFM to wait for Naomi, she realized she herself had gotten lost. Alyssa was tired from walking around everywhere and scared since she was alone. She finally sat at the doorstep a nearby store and cried a bit, not knowing what to do.

…

CR-S01 bought a bag of candy and handed the money over to the counter woman who was dress as a vampire. He didn't really understand why the workers were dressed in costumes. Probably to get in the Halloween spirit.

"That's a nice costume you have." the woman said.

CR-S01 didn't really know what to say on that. That was around the twenty-third time someone said that but it did beat being stared at by whispering people.

"Umm…thanks." he said. He began pondering if he should tell her it wasn't a costume. He took the bag of candy and left. But as soon as stepped out of the store, he was surprised though to hear small sobbing noises. He turned to see a small girl in a lab coat crying. He quickly recognized the girl.

"Alyssa?" ha asked as stooped down. Alyssa looked to her side and saw the man.

"The doctor that saved Naomi!" Alyssa gasped. CR-S01 sighed a bit.

"Just call me Doctor, alright Alyssa?" he asked. "What's wrong Alyssa?"

…

"So that's it." CR-S01 said. Alyssa hiccupped twice before nodding. CR-S01 couldn't leave the girl on her own. After a minute CR-S01 thought of something.

"Why don't you come with me." CR-S01 asked. "You can stay at Resurgem while you wait for Naomi. Dr. Cunningham knows her so he might be able to contact her." Alyssa smiled with a bright look on her face.

"Okay!" Alyssa said cheerily. CR-S01 smiled and handed her a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

…

"Bye mom!" Joshua said. Lisa waved backed to her son. He exactly like Gabriel. She couldn't believe that he wanted to go as a doctor for Halloween, but Gabriel did save Joshua's life. It wasn't so surprising when you looked from that perspective. Lisa sighed to herself. She wondered if she could tell Joshua who Gabriel was.

Joshua walked off. Of course, he was only walking alone for the time being. He made plans with Alyssa to meet up at during their trick-or-treating. Of course they split whatever they got with each other. Joshua would get all the Coffee Rio while Alyssa would get the gummy bears. He seriously thought Alyssa had an obsession problem with bears. After some time, he noticed it was almost the designated time to meet with Alyssa.

…

"Wait doctor!" Alyssa tugged. CR-S01 felt surprised.

"What is it, Alyssa?" he asked.

"I have to meet up with Joshua at the park!" Alyssa said. "Maybe Naomi might be there since I told her I'd meet Joshua there!"

"Fine Alyssa." CR-S01 consented.

"Yay!" Alyssa cheered.

CR-S01 smiled a bit while the little girl pulled him. For some reason, he felt that he went through something like it before. Suddenly, a short, quick flash appeared in his mind.

(Brother!)

(Rosalia? What is it?)

(There's this dress at the shop I saw the shop today! It's really pretty!)

(But don't you have enough already?)

(Please?)

(Sorry Rosalia.)

(Please, please, please…)

(Rosalia, this is childish.)

(Please, please, please…)

(Who did she get this from?) he thought. (Fine Rosalia.)

(Yay!)

(But you have to help me cook dinner!)

(Then it'll be a feast when dad comes home!)

(As long as you don't burn anything like last time.)

(Hey! For that, you'll buy me two dresses!)

CR-S01 snapped back to reality quickly as soon as the two stopped.

"Are you okay doctor?" Alyssa asked in concern. "You suddenly stopped and-"

"It's alright." CR-S01 quickly smiled to ease the girl's worry. "I was just remembering something. That's all."

Alyssa smiled. She was glad the doctor was okay. He looked scary but he was really nice. This was the first time she got to know him better because all the other times, he wasn't in the hospital for some reason.

Joshua began looking for Alyssa in the park. He sat on top of the slide since it was the highest thing in the park. It didn't take long for him spot Alyssa. But he was surprised she was with red-eyed doctor, but for the main reason he was outside the hospital. He never had seen the doctor outside the hospital before.

"Alyssa!" he yelled. "Up here!"

Alyssa noticed immediately. And began running to the slides. CR-S01 couldn't help but be surprised at how fast the girl ran. He followed her calmly.

…

Gabriel looked at his watch. "What's taking the kid so long?" he groaned. Maria came out soon to greet the diagnostician.

"Hey Gabe!" Maria said. "Where's CR?"

"Don't know." Gabriel responded.

"Where do you think he is?" Maria asked. "There's no way he'd run!"

…

"So that's why you're here." Joshua said. CR-S01 nodded after he'd explained himself and Alyssa's situation. "I think I'll come with you two! I was gonna go visit that place anyway!"

"Can he?" Alyssa asked.

CR-S01 was a little unsure about bringing two children to a hospital. But then again, he knew them enough to know they wouldn't cause too much trouble… Or at least in Joshua's case. As for Alyssa, she needed someone to keep an eye on her and there was no way he could do it alone since the girl often ran off sometimes because either she saw something cute or to continue her trick-or-treating. With his limited area, since he couldn't go anywhere out of range of his trackers, he was at a complete disadvantage. Having an extra person help was something he needed.

"Alright." CR-S01 said. Alyssa jumped.

"Yay." she said.

...

"We've called CIFM. We've searched in every place a little girl would go. Where could that girl be?" Navel yelled. Everyone looked in surprised at the mascot and the woman in red and black.  
"Lower your voice!" Naomi whispered her co-worker.  
"Sorry doctor." Navel apologized. "It's just that, we've been searching for an hour. Isn't there anyway to narrow down where she could be?"  
At that moment, it hit her. She had completely forgotten about their meeting with Joshua. "The park!" she yelled. She swiftly grabbed her co-worker's arm. "We were supposed to meet Joshua there!"  
"You only remember it now!" Navel asked.  
"If I hadn't, we'd be there by now!" Naomi yelled.  
Navel couldn't help but chuckle silently to himself . She was usually calm and he knew she had better memory than this. Naomi's personality would turn different whenever it came to her daughter. As for memory, it was probably age taking effect.

* * *

This isn't done yet... Thank you, I hope you enjoyed it.


	10. Chapter 10

Maria paced in the lobby impatiently. She had left Gabriel after asking about CR-S01 an hour earlier and that was how much longer she'd been wondering where he was since she was wondering for a while even before she asked. As she did, Gabriel soon walked in. "Hey Maria." he greeted. "That's it!" Maria said to Gabriel suddenly, even making him jumped. . It's odd how humans work. You don't really notice something until it's gone. You don't worry about something unless it does something out of what it normally does. In this case, it's a doctor with a social problem being out for too long. "I'm gonna go look for him!" she said angrily before leaving the hospital.

Gabriel was a bit surprised by the sudden events but quickly went back to his normal, cocky self. "Good luck." he said.

Unknown to her, CR-S01 was already heading back with two children. One who was lost and the other who went for his own reasons. This kind of information may have come in handy for Naomi and Navel since her daughter was with them. If they did know, they wouldn't waiting at the park right now. But that's something else. We won't go to it yet since all they're doing is sitting there and arguing on where Alyssa is while Navel consoled Naomi and how she forgot her own daughter.

…

"Are we there yet?" Alyssa whined.

"No." CR-S01 said. "Not yet."

"Are we there now?" Joshua whined.

"Not yet." CR-S01 said again. This was going on for a while now. Around fifteen minutes actually.

"Now?" Alyssa asked.

"No."

"What about now?" Joshua asked.

"No."

"Are we-"

CR-S01 sighed to himself quietly. This would definitely go on for-

Without warning, as CR-S01 walked, another form ran from a corner and crashed into the surgeon.

"Doctor!" Alyssa and Joshua said in shock.

CR-S01 groaned as he got up. He was about to apologize but he was caught off by the person who ran into him.

"Watch where-"

Maria and CR-S01 looked at each other in shock.

"Maria?" CR-S01 asked. "Why are you here?"

Maria snapped. "Why?" she yelled. CR-S01, Joshua, and Alyssa flinched from fear. "You've been gone for two hours!" CR-S01 blinked. He hadn't noticed the time since he didn't have a wristwatch or anything.

"C'mon!" Maria said before suddenly and fiercely grabbing the surgeon by the back of the collar and began dragging him back to the hospital. Joshua and Alyssa snickered a bit before following the two.

…

Gabriel stared at the approaching doctors and the two children behind them. He didn't want to bother asking why Maria was dragging CR-S01. That happened often enough that he ignored it now. He was more concerned on the fact Alyssa and Joshua were with them. "You mind telling me why Alyssa and Joshua are with you two?" Gabriel asked the two. Maria looked behind her to see two children before turning to CR-S01.

"I can explain." CR-S01 said.

…

"So that's it." Gabriel said. "I'll go call Naomi now."

"And that's why you were late?" Maria said. CR-S01 nodded.

"But what do we do with them?" Maria asked. As they thought of what to do, Gabriel flipped his cellphone to call Naomi.

…

Naomi was surprised to see that she had just received a call from Gabriel. "What is it?" she asked.

"Found your daughter." Gabriel said.

"What?" Naomi gasped. "How did you know?"

"Kid found her." he answered. "He brought her here to Resurgem so she could wait here while I call you."

"Thanks Gabe." Naomi said before closing her phone. She couldn't help a sense of happiness to the point that she pinched her arm to keep herself from crying. "She's at Resurgem!" she said before grabbing Navel's arm again before running off to the hospital.

…

"Well," Tomoe said as put down her pen. "That's the last of my work. What should I do now?" Tomoe got up from her seat and decided stroll around for a bit at the garden to stretch her muscles. As she did, she saw Alyssa and Joshua. Alyssa was obviously enjoying herself. She ran picking flowers to a point that she a bouquet in her arm. Joshua wasn't interested. He was interested in the insects and birds in the garden though. He was looking at them quietly while looking back at his book that pictures of animals on it.. She couldn't but wonder why they were here. She went to ask Maria and CR-S01 who were sitting on the grass. That was really all they were doing. They had no work and no one wanted to sub to look after the children because they were busy, so Maria and CR-S01 had to look after the two.

"Why is-"

Maria pointed to CR-S01 immediately. CR-S01 sighed a bit and began to explain to Tomoe how everything happened. Tomoe nodded as soon as he was done speaking.

"So that's why." Tomoe said.

"And you?" Maria asked suddenly.

"Oh," Tomoe said. "I was just done working and I wanted to stretch a bit. "

Hank had just returned from taking the younger patients out to trick-or-treat and now he was exhausted. He wanted rest his legs for a bit in the garden. He didn't expect for three doctors and two children to be there. Hank was about to ask until CR-S01 explained to him.

"That's a nice thing to do." Hank said. "You're pretty good with kids."

"No." CR-S01 said slightly depressed. "Only they seem to be the only who don't run away when they see my face."

Hank felt a bit bad for CR-S01. He didn't really look scary nor was he. CR-S01 was actually one of the most well tempered and patient doctor in Resurgem. He respected everyone and was polite to everyone. He was actually kind. The problem was that most children didn't see it that way. It was always his red eyes they were afraid of. Hank didn't really understand why.

"Hi!" Alyssa said. "Look at all these flowers! Naomi's gonna love them!"

Everyone nodded a bit. No one seemed to actually care except for Hank. CR-S01 did a bit but only because he felt he heard it somewhere before. Or was it something that sounded someone he knew would say?

"Maybe it would be best to wait at the lobby." Tomoe suggested.

Alyssa nodded her head in agreement and ran back to call Joshua.

…

"I was so worried about you!" Naomi said. As soon as the doctors and children arrived, Naomi burst in. For some reason, she also brought a mascot. So far Naomi hugged Alyssa the moment she saw her. But the way she hugged Alyssa was the kind that would be similar to Hank's bear hug on the frail CR-S01, the most physically weak of the doctors.

"I'm alright, Naomi." Alyssa gasped a bit. Naomi let go of Alyssa.

"I'm sorry Alyssa." Naomi said. "But-"

"Look, flowers. I got them for you." Alyssa said perkily.

The moment she said that, CR-S01 felt as though he heard the words before. "?" he thought to himself.

"They're fresh so you have to take care of them!" Alyssa said before handing the flowers to Naomi. No one noticed CR-S01 gaze at Alyssa. He really thought he heard those words before, but he for some reason, unlike the others, he couldn't seem to figure it out. As he tried to remember he saw a Cosmo among the bouquet. It made him remember the first time he saw Rosalia after eight years. Maria took out a letter and a photo of his sister. He never told Maria, but the reason why he noticed the cosmos in the first place was because he felt something when he saw it, a sense of familiarity . He couldn't understand it though.

"Thank you Alyssa." Naomi said. "But don't run off like that ever again okay? You really scared me."

"Sorry." Alyssa muttered.

"That reminds me," Joshua said suddenly. "Do you remember that house near that Cumberland College?"

That earned everyone's attention.

"Yeah!" Alyssa said, oblivious to everyone's shocked faces. "I saw it on our field trip."

"That place was definitely scary looking." Joshua said. "The tenants of the place suddenly disappeared."

"What are you two talking about?" Maria asked.

"There's this abandoned house near Cumberland College." Joshua said. "No ones the story behind except that the tenants disappeared suddenly without warning."

"There're lots of rumors behind it!" Alyssa interrupted but Joshua didn't seem to mind. "There's rumors and stuff like that they were murdered or were criminals on the run."

"We wanted to check the place out since it was Halloween!" Joshua said suddenly.

"Can I Naomi?" Alyssa asked.

Naomi shook her head immediately. "It's too dangerous for you to go there without adult supervision. And it's already unsafe with an adult."

"What's so unsafe?" they asked.

"Diseases for one thing." CR-S01 said suddenly. "Rusty metal, tetanus. Broken planks giving way, faulty wiring, criminals might be using it, structural failure…"

"Okay. Okay!" Joshua and Alyssa said. "We won't go to a abandoned house!"

Naomi smiled a bit. "C'mon Alyssa."

Everyone in Resurgem saw Naomi, Alyssa, and the mascot off. Everyone wondered about that mascot.

"I need to go too." Joshua said. "It's getting late. My mom's gonna worry."

Soon, Joshua was gone from the hospital.

* * *

Not yet...


	11. Chapter 11

"Still," Maria said. "It's not a bad idea." Everyone looked at Maria in a puzzled look.

"I mean visiting that house tonight!" Maria suggested.

"NO!" everyone said in agreement.

"C'mon!" Maria whined. "It's not like there was anything to do today!"

"Maria." Tomoe said. "It's too dangerous. CR-S01 already made that clear." Maria turned to the prisoner immediately. Her glare made him wince a bit but this time he stuck with what he said. She turned to Hank, who shook his head.

"Arghh!" Maria said. "Fine, I'll go with Gabe!"

"He'll only agree with us." Hank pointed out.

"I know." Maria said as she walked to his office. "But he's the only one I can force who doesn't have an ankle tracker."

CR-S01 looked down a bit. "It was the FBI's decision…" he thought.

Gabriel was more than surprised when Maria suddenly barged in his office without warning. He was about to ask when Maria interrupted with an abandoned house and visiting. The next thing he knew, he was being dragged across the lobby and then across the street.

…

"Why are we visiting an abandoned house?" Gabriel asked.

"Because I'm bored!" Maria answered. "Besides, I'm kinda curious about this place."

"I'm not." Gabriel said. "I'm going home."

"Oh no you're not!" Maria said before grabbing the diagnostician's arm. "You're going in! wether you like or not!"

He would have tried to fight, but a number of lost taught him it would have been useless.

…

"You go check the back!" Maria said. "I wanna check inside."

Gabriel didn't even bother to talk back. He was alright with it since staying outside would be safer than staying inside an old house that risked collapsing suddenly. He shrugged and went to the back. Maria though didn't seem to understand it but she didn't mind this one time. She was more concerned in finding what was inside. And she had to admit, as soon as she opened the door, it was a lot better than she imagined. The first thing she saw were stairs leading up to the second floor. The ground floor was only consisted of the living room, which was fairly simple and the dining which was also a kitchen. The first thing Maria went to was upstairs. But as she went up, she noticed that both the living room and kitchen had a lot of flower pots. Whoever must have lived there really loved flowers. She didn't know how right she was.

While she walked up the stairs, Gabriel had just arrived at the backyard. And it wasn't much of a backyard, the only word to describe it was garden. Roses, white and red were growing at the back. It had grown a bit out of hand, especially the grass and weeds but it still looked impressive. A little tending and it would look beautiful. This was something he never really expected an old house to have.

"Maria!" he called.

Maria heard from inside a room. It was obvious it belong to a girl since the closet held dresses. Maria jumped after hearing her name being called. As she did, she accidentally knocked over a picture which Gabriel heard from outside.

"What did you break Maria?" Gabriel yelled.

"It's your fault!" Maria snapped back. Maria sighed and began picking up the glass. It was dusty so she couldn't see the photo. But still, the room was different from the one downstairs. It was messy. But not messy as in messy. She meant messy, as in, whoever was in the room looked like they were in a hurry to leave. Maria ducked down to see underneath the dresser. When the picture fell, she saw the photo slip underneath it. Maria slipped her hand underneath it and soon held the picture within her hand. Thanks to the glass, the picture wasn't even damaged. The problem though was who were in it. Maria eyes widened in shock and her mouth gaped. Two familiar faces were on it. "Rosalia! CR-S01!" she gasped. Gabriel heard Maria's scream.

"What about them?" he asked loudly. Maria immediately ran to the window and yelled.

"The people who lived here! It was Rosalia, Albert Sartre, and CR-S01!"

Gabriel's eyes widened at that. He didn't bother asking if it was a joke or not. All he did was run as fast as he could to inside the house, ignoring it might collapse, and went to the room Maria was in.

"What?" he screamed. Maria stretched her hand that held the photo to Gabriel. As he took a step, there was no doubt. Two children in it. Rosalia held a bouquet of white roses on one arm, her other hand held another's arm, CR-S01's, as she ran in front of the camera while bringing her adopted brother with her. It was obvious he was surprised by the photo being taken from his face. Like his sister, he held another bouquet except it was red roses. At the photo, CR-S01 looked around eighteen. Rosalia, maybe sixteen.

Maria looked at the photo. She couldn't believe this was the house that CR-S01 and Rosalia lived in. At least before Cumberland.

"I don't believe this!" Gabriel said in shock. "So the kid used to live here." Maria and Gabriel stood there in silence to take the new information in.

"I'm gonna go check the other rooms." Gabriel suddenly said.

"What?" Maria asked.

"I'm gonna go check the other rooms." Gabriel repeated. "This was kid's house right? Maybe there's something here we could bring back to him that could help jog his memory about his past."

"Like a photo album?" Maria suggested.

"Yeah." Gabriel answered. "That would definitely jog a whole lot."

…

Tomoe was getting worried.

"You worry to much." Hank said. "It's Maria and Gabriel. I'm sure they're alright."

"I know." Tomoe said. As she did, she looked over at CR-S01. Ever since Maria and Gabriel left, all CR-S01 did was sit on the chair and gazed at the floor, as if in deep thought. She envied his calm composure. CR-S01 was in deep thought. What was on his mind was the cosmos. He really knew there was something about it but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. All he could do was try to recall his memories and hope to remember what it was about the cosmos that were important.

…

This was obviously CR-S01's room. Unlike Rosalia's, it didn't seem as if the person got everything important and left within ten minutes. It was clean and neat. What stood out on the other hand was a pot outside on a porch. There was a single Cosmo flower in it. It pink and blooming. Maria stepped closer, wondering why there was a Cosmo outside CR-S01's room until she saw a piece of paper on his desk. It was old an aged but it was far from the windows so it wasn't wet or soggy. A little dusty but legible. Maria recognized the handwriting immediately. It was Rosalia's. But she was too concerned on what was written on it.

Brother

Since you couldn't come with us, I decided to leave this reminder for you. Remember, I got that flower for you so you better take care of it! You also better visit us too or else! Dad says you know the address so you don't have any excuses. When you do, you're going to have bring a present for me for not coming with us! But, is everything alright brother? Are you okay? Please write or visit us soon.

-Rosalia

She had a hard time believing it. Rosalia got CR-S01 a flower for him to take care of? But she had already wasted enough time reading it. Maria quickly put the letter down and began looking for something that could bring help back some memories for CR-S01.

…

"Yeesh." Gabriel said to himself. "What a mess." The room he was in was Albert Sartre's. It looked like something a scientist's room would look. Gabriel began looking around the room to search for a photo album or something. He searched everywhere he could think of. Desk, under the mattress, closet…but to no avail. He sighed to himself and got up.

"Maybe Maria had better luck." he thought.

…

No matter how much CR-S01 tried, nothing seemed to come to mind. Finally, CR-S01 leaned back to the in his room and sighed. He looked up to a clock to see what time it was. "7:25" the clock read. It's been two hours and a half since they left. Now the surgeon was getting a bit worried. Dr. Tachibana went to eat at home and Dr. Freebird went to get some dinner with Clair. CR-S01 decided to check if they were alright himself. He soon began walking around street and asking people of the house Joshua described.

…

"No luck?" Gabriel asked.

Maria sighed and nodded.

"Well," Gabriel sighed. "We tried. Let's just go back and take the kid here next time."

Maria groaned and got up. But not before turning to get the potted Cosmo.

"What are you doing?" Gabriel asked.

"This is CR-S01's." Maria said. "Rosalia gave this to him."

"That explains why the other cosmos aren't so lively." Gabriel commented.

…

"You might want to explain why you're out here?" Ian sighed. CR-S01 thought either this was the best or worst time he could've run into the man. CR-S01 had been following a map someone he asked drew up for him. Unfortunately, at some point the got lost. He found himself wandering the streets for five minutes before running into him. So far it looked like a good thing he ran into him since CR-S01 probably would've gotten himself deeper to nowhere until morning.

"Maria and Dr. Cunningham went to an abandoned house and haven't com back yet." CR-S01 said. Ian groaned a bit. It started to look like it was more trouble to leave CR-S01 at Resurgem with the doctors but only because the doctors seemed more irresponsible than CR-S01. And by doctors. He meant Maria and Dr. Cunningham.

"I'll go help you." he said. "But go back to Resurgem right now."

CR-S01 looked around confused. He didn't mind going to Resurgem, if he knew how.

"You're lost aren't you?" Ian asked.

CR-S01 nodded a bit. Ian sighed to himself again.

"Just follow me…"

* * *

This is getting really long...

the tracker turns off automatically as soon as CR-S01 is in Resurgem, so it isn't on during surgeries.


	12. Chapter 12

Luck happened that the house CR-S01 was heading to was a block away. Ian opened the door. CR-S01 looked inside, as he did, he felt a sudden rush to his head. Felt as if he'd been here before, but it wasn't just that. He felt this place had great importance to him.

"You okay?" Ian asked. CR-S01 quickly snapped back to reality.

"Umm." CR-S01 began. "Y-Yes."

Ian looked at the surgeon before proceeding the inside the house. He knew CR-S01 was never good at lies. He was easy to catch, so much an eight year old could do better than him and did. But both the FBI agent and prisoner knew the danger of an old house. The house collapsing and planks giving way was something they needed to be cautious about. CR-S01 had an easy time. Since he ate less than other people, he was light and so he didn't stress the planks. Ian hadn't done it in a while but both eventually got upstairs.

CR-S01 really felt as if he had done this before. As soon their feet touched the second floor, they heard sounds of two people talking to each other.

"What are you doing?"

"This is CR-S01's. Rosalia gave this to him."

"That explains why the other cosmos aren't so lively."

CR-S01 looked at the FBI agent in a slightly confused look.

"Don't look at me." Ian said. "You should be the one explaining to me."

CR-S01 went to go closer to the room, without warning the door opened and struck CR-S01. Maria and Gabriel Cunningham were both surprised as well to hear a thud on the ground.

"Ow…" CR-S01 muttered to himself.

"Woah." Gabriel said in surprise. "Sorry about that…kid?"

"Why are you here?" Maria asked. "I thought you didn't want to came"

"It was getting late and I got worried." CR-S01 answered. "Why are you carrying a plant?"

"Oh this-"

"Why is G-man here?" Gabriel interrupted. Maria couldn't help wonder too and stopped answering CR-S01.

"I helped him get here after he got himself lost." Ian answered bluntly.

"You got yourself lost?" Maria laughed. "How do you get yourself lost?"

CR-S01 looked down, ashamed of himself a bit. "I-I'm not used to it." he tried to defend but it was drowned out by Maria's laughter. Gabriel and Ian couldn't help but pity the surgeon a bit.

"Let's just go…" CR-S01 muttered a bit.

"Oh right." Maria said with her laughter finally dying. "Before I forget, this is yours."

"Mine?" CR-S01 asked while looking blankly at the Cosmo.

"Yeah!" Maria said. "You don't remember cuz Rosalia left it there."

A sudden flash appeared on CR-S01's mind. It was to quick though for him identify. His head hurt from the pain, enough to make him wince. But he was too concerned on Maria's words, he felt it was more important than his headache. "What did you say?" CR-S01 asked. "Can you be more specific?"

"?" everyone thought.

"About the Cosmos?" CR-S01 asked.

"Oh," Maria said. "I knew that! It was outside."

"More specific?" CR-S01 asked again.

"On the porch." Maria said. Another flash appeared on CR-S01's mind but this time, it was slow enough for him to recognize it. Without warning and to everyone's surprise, CR-S01 quickly ran to his room and opened the door. The moment he did, all his memory of that day returned. CR-S01 stood there in front of his room in shock from his returned memory.

"You okay kid?" Gabriel asked.

"Did you find a camcorder?" CR-S01 asked ultimately ignoring Gabriel's question.

"In Rosalia's room." Maria pointed. "Why do you ask?"

CR-S01 didn't answer. Instead he ran quickly to Rosalia's room.

"H-Hey!" Maria said before following him. Gabriel and Ian looked at each other in surprise before carefully the two.

"What are-"

"I remembered something." CR-S01 interrupted.

"Huh?" Maria said.

"Right before I went to Cumberland College." CR-S01 said suddenly as he picked up the device from the bed.

"Before I went to Cumberland College, Rosalia was recording something with me."

"What?" Maria asked in confusion. "What does that have to with anything."

"We did that the day the outbreak happened!" CR-S01 quickly answered. "We were playing with her camcorder and went to Cumberland College to record what me and Prof. Sartre did there but the outbreak already happened by the time we got there!"

Gabriel and Ian heard it since CR-S01 said rather loudly. They were as surprised as Maria.

"What?" Maria screamed. "Are you saying everything that occurred right after the outbreak was recorded?"

"Not everything." CR-S01 said. "If I remember correctly, I got scared that something would happen to her and sent her back here."

Maria groaned to herself. "Are you serious?" she began. "It could have proved you innocent!"

"I didn't expect all that would happen…" CR-S01 muttered softly.

"All what?" the diagnostician interrupted the two. CR-S01 and Maria jumped in surprise. CR-S01 realized at that moment that he never told anyone that Prof. Sartre framed and that it wasn't accident. During the outbreak, he managed to worm his way out by saying it was an accident him being arrested. He was lucky it was Dr. Tachibana. If it was anyone else, he would have been caught. He asked Maria to keep it a secret along with his childhood since he didn't want anyone else to worry about him.

"Umm…" CR-S01 said. He knew well that this was unlike before. If he lied, he'd be found out easily.

"Cat's outta the bag…" Maria thought.

After that, the four left to Resurgem to charge the camcorder and see if there was anything useful in it. On the way, CR-S01 had to explain to everyone what really happened in Cumberland and why he didn't tell anyone, save Maria.


	13. Chapter 13

Recording

(Hello!) Rosalia said to the camera. (It's nice to meet you all!) Rosalia never told anyone she did this. Only Maria knew of her hobby. It was odd, but she liked it. Besides, it was good preparation for when she talked to people.

(Anyway,) she continued. (Today is brother's birthday, so I bought him these Cosmo flowers!) As she said it, she opened her brother's room to reveal a neat, simple room with a potted set of Cosmo flowers on the porch. She envied him for it but then again, she had the roof garden all to herself. Without warning, she heard the door open.

(Rosalia!) the red eyed man called. (I left some notes here and-) much to his surprise, his sister standing in front of his room with a camcorder in her hand.

(What are you doing?) he asked his sister.

Rosalia flustered. (Ahhh! Promise not to tell anyone first!) she said before shutting the recorder.

…

"So that's it?" he laughed a bit.

"So you won't tell anyone?" Rosalia asked.

"Of course I won't." he reassured. At the moment he answered it, an idea clicked on Rosalia's mind.

(So what do you say?) Rosalia said as she reopened the camcorder.

(Huh?) the man asked.

(Do the recording with me!) Rosalia suggested.

(Sorry Rosalia.) he apologized. (I have work and-)

(Please?) Rosalia began begging.

(Not this again…) he muttered. He rolled his eyes a bit before chuckling to himself a bit.

(Hello) he began. (My name is-)

(Don't do that!) Rosalia interrupted. (No one likes that introductory stuff! I've said you're name in the past so it's not like they don't know you!)

(So what do you suggest then?) he asked.

(Hmm…) Rosalia began thinking. (I've already said your name before so there's no need for introduction so…How about something you do?)

(Something I do?) he asked.

(Yeah!) Rosalia said. (You're always doing those science stuff at your college so why not talk about it?)

(You're not even interested in that.) he argued.

(But the people are!) Rosalia said back.

(What people?) he asked.

(Brother!) Rosalia yelled.

He sighed to himself a bit. (I-) he began again. (I work at Cumberland College. I'm an assistant to my father, Prof. Albert Sartre. We're working on a bacteria that could end all disease known to humanity. You see bacteria-)

(I got it!) Rosalia grinned. (Why don't we go there?)

(Where?) he asked.

(Your college!) Rosalia suggested. (I've never been to one before!)

(What about the audience?) he reminded.

(Forget them!) Rosalia said. (C'mon. Please?)

(Do I have a choice?) he asked.

(I'll go get my jacket!) Rosalia jumped in glee before running to the coat rack and picking he jacket.

(Let's go then.) he said before opening the door for his sister.

(Wait.) Rosalia said as she stopped walking. (I thought you didn't have a license.)

(I don't.) he said. (We're walking.)

Rosalia grumbled to herself. (You need to get a license brother.)

"How much longer?" Rosalia whined.

"Almost there." he answered. It took thirty-minutes to walk from the house to Cumberland.

"That reminds," Rosalia began. "Don't you want to be a doctor, brother?"

"Of course." he answered in a much more excited tone. "It's been my dream since I was a kid."

"What about that new hospital?" Rosalia asked. "Are you going work there?"

"You mean Resurgem?" he said. "Maybe. Where I really want to work is at Caduceus."

"Ka-du-siyus?" Rosalia asked.

"Caduceus." he corrected. "It's the best hospital in the world."

"Wow." Rosalia said. "Do they work near by?"

"I don't know." he answered. "They've got multiple branches worldwide."

"Woah." Rosalia awed.

"I know." he said. "Pretty amazing huh?"

"No, not that!" Rosalia said as she turned her camcorder on again.

(I mean that!) Rosalia pointed. The building she pointed to was a grand and large. A garden practically surrounded it. The only thing keeping her from running inside to feed her curiosity was the gate standing between them.

(This is where you study?) Rosalia gasped. (I want to study here too!)

He couldn't but chuckle a bit to his sister. She always got so excited so easily. (C'mon.) he said. He could here his sister hum and whistle in anticipation. He couldn't blame her. It was beautiful inside and the education was top notched aswell. When he first came, he nearly was late for class because he was to busy roaming the campus to see every nook and cranny of the school. Curiosity was a trait all three of them ran across the path unlike her brother who walked calmly from behind.

(Brother!) Rosalia called to her brother. (Is that one of your teachers?)

He looked to a woman in an orange uniform. He recognized her immediately. It was his math teacher.

(Teacher!) he called.

(So it is one of yours!) Rosalia jumped before running back. (She's really pretty!) she whispered mischievously.

(Don't get your ideas again.) he said back. (She's married.)

(The man must be lucky.) Rosalia said. Rosalia was about to run to greet the teacher until the woman suddenly collapsed, leaning on a pillar to hold her.

(Huh?) Rosalia said.

(Teacher?) he yelled. Learning to become a surgeon, he was taught to react fast but properly to be able to treat the patient properly and fast. But he didn't expect to see her coughing so harshly.

(Are you alright Mrs. Holden?) he asked in panic. As soon as he and Rosalia got to her, they were shocked and horrified to see black bruises on arm which extended to her shoulder and both her eyes and the bruises bloodshot. It didn't take long him to realize what she had.

(What's going on brother?) Rosalia asked ina panicked state with tears beginning to form her in her eyes. (Is she okay?)

He remained quiet. He couldn't bear to tell her what was going but he knew she had to know the truth.

(It's-)

Suddenly she began coughing even more. As she did, he and Rosalia heard several words.

(W-What?) he asked.

(R-Run….) Mrs. Holden said.

(Huh?) the two said.

(It's…s-spreading…) Mrs. Holden began to say. (T-There… was a m-mist…)

The minute he heard it, his worries shifted from Rosalia knowing the truth to her safety and possibly everyone else's.

(Get out of here Rosalia!) he said to his sister immediately. (Get out of here and call a hospital!)

(But-) Rosalia stuttered.

(Go!) he said. (I'll be fine! Just go!)

Rosalia whimpered a bit before leaving her brother for the final time to call the police and hospital. As she did she turned off her camcorder.


	14. Chapter 14

Thanksgiving

It was around two weeks since CR-S01 had been released. The one videos contained in the camera had a crucial evidence that proved CR-S01 couldn't have caused the outbreak. While Rosalia rushed to the teacher, a glimpse of the school clock could be seen. It was one hour passed the time of death of the first victim, proving his alibi. But CR-S01, despite being free now, was still having a hard time. It turns out keeping some secrets can make some people mad. Tomoe and Gabriel were really angry at him and didn't talk to him for three days. Hank was alright with it, but CR-S01 didn't know why exactly. When he asked, Hank suddenly disappeared after a news of a robbery nearby was heard from a radio on at the lobby. As he walked down the hallway he heard Maria's familiar screaming.

"Hey!" she called. "You! CR!"

He sighed to himself a bit. "What is Maria?"

"I just wanted give you wanted this!" Maria said.

"An invitation to a Thanksgiving dinner?" CR-S01 asked.

"Yeah!" Maria said. "Naomi invited all of us so everyone's going!"

"It's okay." CR-S01 answered. "I'm alright eating by myself and-"

"C'mon!" Maria shouted suddenly. "It's like a get-to-together for friends! You have to come!"

"But-" CR-S01 tried to defend.

"I'll tell Naomi you're coming. It's at seven!" Maria said. The surgeon tried to talk back but the EMT ran away before he got the chance. He sighed to himself.

…

"A Thanksgiving dinner?" Lisa asked her son.

"Yup!" Joshua answered. "Alyssa invited me over!"

"Why not?" Lisa said. "It sounds like fun."

"Yes!" Joshua said. He was too excited for words. Especially since he knew that everyone would get together at the dinner, including the doctors. He was hoping there he could get some answer from them on how they knew each. The doctor and his mom kept changing the subject every time he asked.

…

Gabriel strode through the halls. He still was a bit angry at the surgeon for keeping it a secret but he couldn't blame him either. He would keep being hated by his biological parents and being framed by his own foster father a secret too! Like when Maria tried keep it a secret from CR-S01 about his sister. For a kid who was horrible at lying, he could read people even better than the diagnostician himself. But he didn't really know how the surgeon reacted to it since he was sent back to prison soon after. He looked at the letter in his hand. He was a bit worried on accepting Naomi's invitation to her Thanksgiving dinner. Naomi was the worst cook in the world. The only edible food she made was curry. The only reason why he agreed to go was that the everyone else was going. Maria was invited along with Tomoe and Hank. The look on their faces if they ate her cooking was worth having to eat Naomi's inedible food. But he wondered as well if he would survive by that time… It wasn't soon till he ran into the surgeon.

"Yo kid!" he greeted.

"Hello Dr. Cunningham." CR-S01 greeted back. "So your going to Dr. Kimishima's dinner as well?"

"Woah," Gabriel said. "You're coming to? I thought you would go eat alone or something."

"Maria didn't give me much of a choice." CR-S01 said. Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle to himself a bit. Now CR-S01 would have suffer eating Naomi's cooking too. He was now definitely going.

"What are you laughing about?" CR-S01 asked.

"Nothing." Gabriel replied. CR-S01 was about to point out several gestures that said otherwise but the diagnostician walked away quickly before he could. The surgeon sighed to himself a little.

…

Hank looked at the letter and shook his head. "Sorry Maria." he apologized. "But I'm already going with Clair."

"Aww." Maria grumbled a bit. She was alright with it though, it was a better excuse than "I'm too busy and I can eat by myself." She grumbled a bit at CR-S01's lack of social skills. He may be a genius surgeon but he couldn't even do something as simple as make a conversation last for three minutes.

"Is something Maria?" Hank as he looked at her angry face and fist shaped hand.

"Oh, it's nothing." Maria responded quickly. "It's just that, man, why is it that he can't do anything simple like talk to someone!" Hank quickly realized who she was referring to.

"Everyone's got their own personalities." Hank said calmly. "And how they do things."

"I know!" Maria said angrily. "But we've known each other for a year now and he still doesn't do things with us like a group!"

"Well," Hank began. "He did have an ankle tracker. It wasn't much of a choice."

"But what about after?" Maria grumbled more. "He didn't want even go with us to celebrate his freedom! He only went because I convinced him!"

"Didn't you threatened him?" Hank asked. "And maybe it was because he was released on his work hour he didn't want to go?"

"There's more to life than working!" Maria defended. Hank sighed to himself. There was just no use trying to get through to her.

"Anyway, I got to go give Tomoe her invitation too. See ya Hank!" Maria said before running again.

"She's on the tenth floor!" Hank said.

…

"Tomoe!" Maria called to her friend.

"Maria?" Tomoe asked. "What is it?"

Maria began telling her about Naomi's Thanksgiving dinner. "That sounds lovely." Tomoe answered. "It's a shame Dr. Freebird can't come."

"Yeah." Maria agreed. "But I'm happy things are working out for him."

"Indeed." Tomoe said. "I'll go tell Hanzou that I'll be he having dinner at Naomi's place tonight instead of home."

"You do that!" Maria said. "I'm gonna be off work early so I'll go see if I have something good to wear tonight!" Tomoe chuckled a bit before seeing Maria off again. Like Gabriel, she was mad at CR-S01 but how could she even? What he did was no different from her leaving Resurgem without notifying anyone. She was still surprised that CR-S01 was going. She thought he would feel awkward and eat alone. Now that she thought of it, it was strange. When anyone else asked, CR-S01 didn't seem to budge. It was only Maria who seemed to have the ability to coax CR-S01 to do it. But then again, she always threatened him.

…

"Shopping. Shopping." Alyssa hummed. "Why are shopping anyway Naomi? Can't you ask Mr. Navel to cook it?"

"No." Naomi answered. "He's still working. Besides,…"

"What?" Alyssa asked.

"It's nothing." Naomi answered. She didn't want to answer that Navel did a better job in cooking than her. She would rather buy her dinner than ask him to cook for her.

"So what are we looking for again?" Alyssa asked. "Turkey, grilled sweet potato, salmon…"

"Here, Alyssa." Naomi said. "It's half of what we need. Can I count on you to look for them?"

"All by myself?" Alyssa asked.

"Yes." Naomi said. "But if we get lost, we meet where?"

"Entrance." Alyssa answered.

"And?" Naomi continued.

"I should call Naomi." Alyssa answered again.

"Good." Naomi said. Ever since they were separated, Naomi took precautions to make sure nothing like that would happen again. She even bought her a cell phone. She sighed a bit to herself as she saw her daughter run off.

…

"Hey." Hank greeted.

"Hello." CR-S01 said back. He was in his room, or his old room at least. It was still barred but it wasn't shut like before. The bed that used to stay there was replaced with a desk and there were book shelves there at walls which were filled with difficult looking, medical books. The last thing there that brightened up the office was a Cosmo. Ever since Maria gave it to him, he had taken care of it as if it was an actual human being rather than a plant. Maybe it was to make for the times he hadn't.

"It looks like a healthy flower." Hank said. "It looks better from when you first brought it here."

"Thank you." CR-S01 smiled. "I'm surprised a bit myself that it still remained alive despite the odds."

"That reminds me." Hank said. "Whatever you do, don't criticize Maria in anyway during the dinner. That means you can't act surprised either."

"Huh?" CR-S01 in confusion. Why was he telling him something everyone knew?

"She's going to where a dress." Hank said. CR-S01 dropped his sprayer. Since it was a potted planted, he couldn't use a hose. He needed to use a sprayer filled with water instead, but that's not important right now.

"Is this a joke?" he asked.

"Tomoe said it so I'm pretty sure it's real." Hank said. "Go ask for yourself."

"O-Okay." CR-S01 answered. He still needed time to take in the fact that Maria was going to wear a dress. He began wonder if Maria was ill in

anyway and was going through delusions.

* * *

Is it hallucination or delusion?

*sigh* I'm beginning to lose interest... But I'm going to finish this story! Once I get an idea of what exactly I'm writing...


	15. Chapter 15

"It's true." Tomoe answered. CR-S01 stared for a bit in surprise. He had a hard time taking this information in. It was Maria, he couldn't exactly think of any reason why she would wear a dress.

"It's obvious you're quite confused about Maria's action." Tomoe pointed out. "Well, despite Maria's temper, she's still a woman. It's only natural to want to look good."

CR-S01 nodded a bit.

…

Alyssa searched through the aisles for thirty minutes. So far, she found everything she needed. She was just heading back. While she hummed and pushed the shopping cart at the same, she noticed a familiar looking figure straight ahead. She couldn't distinguish the figure until she came closer.

"Mr. Navel!" she waved. The man jolted a bit before looking back at the girl.

"Alyssa!" he said. "You're here too?"

"Me and Naomi!" Alyssa jumped. "We're finding for Thanksgiving dinner!"

"Really?" he asked in surprised. "Where is she then?"

Alyssa shrugged. "I'll call her!"

Naomi felt surprised to feel something in her purse move. She quickly began digging in her bag and took out her phone.

"Hello?" Naomi said.

"Naomi!" Alyssa said. "Guess who I ran into today?"

"Who?" Naomi asked amusingly.

"Hi Dr. Kimishima." Navel greeted. Naomi's immediate response was a frown appearing on her face.

"Hey Little Guy." Naomi said dejectedly.

"H-Hey." Navel said nervously. "What's with the tone?"

"Nothing." Naomi answered. "So what is it Little Guy?"

"Can't I just call to say hi?" Navel asked.

"No." Naomi answered bluntly. Navel's shoulders sank a bit as he he sighed, which Naomi ultimately ignored.

"Anyway." Navel said. "Alyssa said your having Thanksgiving dinner."

Naomi's eyes widened a bit and muttered several, inaudible words under breath.

"Dr. Kimishima?" Navel asked.

"It's nothing." Naomi answered immediately. "You want to come?"

"Sure." Navel answered obliviously. Naomi ended call soon and sighed to herself.

…

"Hmm." Maria thought. "Nah. A little too black for Thanksgiving ."

Maria's job as an E.M.T affected a large part of her life. One of which was what she wore. Because she had to run from to place often, she needed clothes that didn't sag, weren't difficult to run in or just didn't get in her way. This meant she needed clothes that were more like male clothes rather than female. She never said it but it was a bit embarrassing having few clothes that looked like something a woman would wear.

"Let's see what else I have." she said to herself. She looked through closet but much to dismay, that black dress was the last one. "Argh! You've gotta be kidding me!" she screamed before sighing to herself. "Looks I'll have to go find another one…" she grumbled, taking her wallet as she left.

…

Hank walked around in the supermarket. Unlike two other people, his intentions were different. He was here to help his old patient, Clair, search for ingredients for her dinner. Naturally, his job was the same as what he did in the past, carrying the bags.

"This pumpkin's beautiful!" Clair said. "It's big and plump."

"I'm assuming that this the kind you're looking for?" Hank said. "Should we buy it or do we keep looking around?"

"Hmm…" Clair thought. "I guess we should buy it now."

Hank smiled willingly. "Well, let's put that in the cart then."

The two have been shopping for half an hour. That pumpkin was the thing last they needed. But Hank had to admit, he was a bit sad that he couldn't make it to Naomi's dinner. But he was still happy to be with Clair.

…

CR-S01 has terrible luck. The worst. It's almost as if the world is out to get him and he doesn't even know it. CR-S01 didn't have much clothes and didn't even have a single decent one to wear in parties or ,in this case, dinner. So he decided to use some of the extra money he had to buy something. He didn't know it but that was around the same time Maria decided to go buy herself a new dress. They may just have as well picked the same place to shop. And that's exactly what they did. This isn't going to be fun.

CR-S01 still looked aimlessly around. He didn't really understand what color it needed to be or its importance. He just wanted something simple that would last long. He window shopped a bit but found nothing. He sighed to himself a bit before deciding to rest a bit on a bench. He didn't know it, but Maria seemed to be having the same problem too. Everything was a little too girly for her. After window shopping a bit, much like CR-S01, decided to rest a bit before continuing.

…

Tomoe strolled a bit in the mall. She wanted to walk around a bit before going to Naomi's dinner. She looked around and smiled. Everyone was walking around together happily. She looked to a familiar spot. It was hard to believe a terrible incident happened there in the past. She could still remember the mayhem that happened there. If it hadn't been for Maria…

Let's not get to that. Still, Tomoe had been walking around for sometime. As she thought, she took a look at the bench near the

"I think I'll rest a bit." she thought.

…

Gabriel walked around a bit. He was walking around the mall to find some ink for his printer at home. He needed it if he wanted to print the photos of the doctors at Naomi's dinner. He couldn't wait so he packed a video camera in his bag. He couldn't stop chuckling to himself as he imagined each of the doctor's faces during the dinner, except Hank that is. Looks like someone had escaped a torturous night unwittingly. He yawned to himself.

"Guess I should rest up a bit before going to Naomi's." he said. He saw a bench nearby and shrugged. As h walked closer, he was more than surprised to see three others heading to the same bench.


	16. Chapter 16

"So how come you didn't invite till the last minute?" Navel asked. Naomi didn't answer. "Umm…"

Alyssa continued to walk obliviously, not minding the two. Navel sighed to himself. He already asked her this question several times, to no avail. He sighed and looked at Alyssa. Maybe she knew why? He walked a bit to Alyssa. "Hey," he whispered. "Alyssa do you know why Naomi didn't invite me?"

"Sorry Mr. Navel." Alyssa whispered a bit playfully, thinking it was some sort of game. "but I don't know either."

He sighed to himself more heavily. "Ah well," he thought. "I guess I can live not knowing…"

…

"Woah!" Gabriel said. "Looks like we all got the same idea. What a coincidence."

"At the same time?" CR-S01 finished. "It's hardly believable…"

"Got any other explanation?" Maria asked fiercely. CR-S01 looked down a bit immediately in reaction.

"I was just stating a fact…" he thought.

"So what brings you all here?" Tomoe interrupted.

"Can't find a dress." Maria groaned.

"Somewhat like Maria's." CR-S01 answered. "Except a suit."

"You'll find out soon enough." Gabriel chuckled. Everyone looked at Gabriel a bit. Tomoe in worry, Maria in suspicion and CR-S01 in confusion.

"Huh?" the prisoner asked. Maria gave a sharp punch and obvious punch to his abdomen. Everyone who walked by winced a bit, including the two doctors, at the man hunched over slightly. CR-S01 stepped away a bit to get air and to hope the E.M.T wouldn't land another. Tomoe and Gabriel sighed to themselves.

"Maria," Tomoe said. "Why did you do that?"

"C'mon!" Maria reasoned. "How could he not get that Gabe's up to something!"

"Still doesn't mean you have to give him a sucker punch to the gut." Gabriel pointed out. Maria sighed in defeat walked to the surgeon. CR-S01 jumped a bit upon Maria's approached, but he didn't try to run away. It would useless to try to escape from someone who runs everyday. CR-S01 could only ready himself in case Maria would lose her temper once more.

"Sorry for hitting you." Maria grumbled a bit. CR-S01 calmed down. She was grumbling but he could sense some real remorse behind it. But only a little.

"It's okay." he said. "I'm just glad you didn't punch me again."

"What?" Maria asked in an irritated tone.

"N-Nothing!" he responded quickly. Maria glared a bit but left without even attempting to attack the surgeon. He sighed in relief to himself. He was a tad surprised though that she didn't try to attack him again. Still, he did finally regain his composure. He walked back to the group, following Maria.

"So how'd it go?" Gabriel asked.

"I don't really know." CR-S01 said. Maria didn't answer, all she did was pout.

"Not good huh?" Gabriel said. CR-S01 stayed quiet for a few seconds before nodding.

…

Alyssa hummed while she set the table. Navel and Naomi were busy setting the food. "Hey," Navel said. "How come we're using bought food?"

"Because…" Naomi answered.

"What was that Dr. Kimishima?" Navel asked. "You kind of trailed off there."

"I promised Gabe I wouldn't cook." Naomi lied.

"Is that it?" Navel laughed. "If that was the case, I could've just cooked-" Immediately, Naomi reacted with low *shush* in attempt to keep him quiet but it was to late by then.

"You can cook?" Alyssa asked.

"Of course!" Navel answered. "Since you're mother can't cook, I had too."

"Wow!" Alyssa gasped. "How come you didn't ask him to cook Naomi?" It immediately clicked to Navel's mind why she didn't invite him. He grind a cocky smile towards his boss.

"Well, in that case," Navel said. "How about I start cooking something now? Alyssa, help me out!"

"AyeAye Captain!" Alyssa ssaid playfully before running inside the kitchen. Naomi glared daggers at Navel. For once, Navel responded with a smile.

…

"Thanks for helping me." CR-S01 thanked as he paid for his clothes.

"No problem kid." Gabriel answered. "Any man would've known what would happen if we left you Maria together."

"What?" CR-S01 asked.

"You'd be killed." Gabriel laughed. CR-S01 gulped. Gabriel laughed when he said it but he knew very well he was dead serious. Why was it that CR-S01 had the ability to unwittingly aggravate Maria? So far, after the two fought, or something like that, Tomoe offered to help Maria and Gabriel to CR-S01.

"So you done?" he asked.

"Yeah," CR-S01 answered. "I think so."

"Well," Gabriel said. "Let's go meet up with Tomoe and Maria."

…

Tomoe walked with Maria. "Have you calmed down now?" she asked.

"Calm down?" Maria asked. "Calm down from what?"

"I don't know." Tomoe asked. "What CR-S01 do to make so mad?"

"Oh that." Maria said. "Nah. I just wanted to make him feel guilty and squirm a bit as punishment for his comment." Tomoe chuckled a nervous laughter. They were about done picking clothes too. Actually, Maria was finished long before, Tomoe got too much into it and started buying clothes. She carried more bags than Maria.

"You really need to stop doing that to him." Tomoe said.

"I know." Maria said. "But it's so much fun."

"Maria…" Tomoe sighed.

"Hey!" Gabriel greeted. CR-S01 stood next to him. As soon as he saw Maria, he flinched a bit but quickly calmed down. Maria mentally chuckled at how CR-S01 acted. Gabriel and Tomoe sighed to themselves.

"I'm gonna go home to change!" Maria declared. "Bye guys!"

"I'll go home to change aswell." CR-S01 said before leaving. "I'll see all later then."

Gabriel and Tomoe saw the two off.


	17. Chapter 17

CR-S01 looked at the mirror. He was a tad bit flustered about all of this. It was his first time since Cumberland he was going to some sort of outing.

(C'mon! It's like a get-to-together for friends!)

Okay, a get together but it still didn't change the fact he was nervous. He sighed to himself. But in another way, it seemed more like another reunion with everyone, or most, since the outbreak. Then again, Dr. Freebird wasn't coming so it wasn't much of a reunion. CR-S01 couldn't help but begin wonder though if it was easier for him if he had some of his memories back. He must have spent Thanksgiving in the past at least once. At that thought, he began reassuring himself.

"I already did this holiday tradition in the past, I can do this again!" he thought.

…

Maria tried the outfit Tomoe got for her. She hated to admit it but it was a lot better than her choice. She had no idea that Tomoe had such good taste in clothing. She really did look good in it.

"Wait'll till they see me in this!" Maria laughed. "I can see their faces now!"

…

Ironically, somewhere, in a shopping mall, Gabriel was thinking the exact same thing. He glanced up at the clock and snickered to himself a bit. "Half an hour left." he thought. Tomoe was with him. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in curiosity at why Gabriel had been acting strange.

…

*THUMP* *THUMP*

Naomi raised her head in surprise at hearing someone knocking at the door. She looked to her watch. 6:30 it read. "Why on earth would someone be here thirty minutes before dinner?" she thought. She opened the door.

"Hey!" Joshua greeted. "Good evening Alyssa's mom!"

"Joshua?" Naomi asked. "What're-"

"Joshua!" Alyssa popped out. "Mr. Navel's in the kitchen. I call licking the spoon!"

"Darn!" Joshua said.

"Alyssa…" Naomi interfered. "Would you tell me why Joshua is here?"

"Oh," Alyssa said. "Since Joshua was gonna come anyway, I thought I'd invite him over to help out in the cooking!"

"I help my mom out all the time," said Joshua with pride. "so I'm really good at this! Better than Alyssa at most."

"Hey!" Alyssa said angrily. Naomi saw the two run off to the kitchen. She couldn't help but sigh to herself and smile. After walking to her library, a thought occurred to her that she didn't realize before. Joshua was already here. Alyssa invited Joshua and she invited…

She slapped her forehead. "This is going to be trouble." she thought. "Well, at least it's just Joshua."

"Naomi!" Alyssa said after appearing suddenly. "I forgot to tell you, I invited Joshua's mom too."

"Oh," Naomi said as she concealed a rather deep sigh. "Alright then. I'll go set up for one more."

"Yay!" Alyssa cheered.

* * *

Running...low...on...ideas...


	18. Chapter 18

CR-S01 stood nervously outside the house. Despite his attempts of reassuring himself, he still couldn't calm down. He sighed deeply. If he hadn't been so preoccupied with his nervousness, he would have noticed the mischievous figure sneaking behind him.

"BOO!" said the voice as a shove to his back given. CR-S01 jumped and yelped a bit.

"Wha-"

"Ahahahaa!" Maria laughed. CR-S01 frowned to the E.M.T though he had to admit, she looked well in the dress she was wearing.

"Th-That wasn't funny!" he said.

"You're right there!" Maria laughed. "It was much funnier seeing you pace back and forth at the doorstep!"

"Ah-" CR-S01 tried to defend but with Maria's continuous laughter, he couldn't help but drift his own words to mumbles.

"Look!" Alyssa suddenly said aloud. "It's that doctor and the lady from the hospital!

"Hey!" Maria said before hugging Alyssa. Maria couldn't help but do it. Alyssa was too adorable for her. Everyone thought that about her and Joshua. CR-S01 was the only one she wasn't sure about. Whenever he saw them, he never reacted like he was seeing two children and talked in a manner like he was trying to get to know them or befriend them. Instead, every time he saw the two, he talked to them like doctor to a patient. Oh, hello. How are your stitches? Are there any complications? You seem pretty active so it's safe to say you're recovering with no problems. That was how CR-S01 usually would greet them. Maria groaned to herself at how CR-S01 was interacting with children. She didn't know if he was terrible or excellent at it since he bonded Alyssa after a few mere hours.(Halloween)

"It's nice to see again." CR-S01 greeted. "Have you been staying healthy? No complications or anything odd?"

"Nope!" Alyssa answered. "I haven't even gotten sick at all yet!"

"That's good." CR-S01 answered. "Children should stay healthy and fit, even at a young age." Maria rolled her eyes. She wished he would start talking, no, acting normally outside of work and not like a doctor 24/7.

"You two are early." Naomi said. Alyssa ran back to her mother.

"Naomi!" she yelled as she did.

"Good evening." CR-S01 said.

"Yeah!" Maria said. "Thanks for the invites!"

"You're welcome." Naomi answered. "I just hope you enjoy it." CR-S01 and Maria both cringed at the statement. The way Naomi said, she didn't mean it but, it sounded as if a mixed emotion of hatred and irritation. Alyssa didn't seem to notice.

"Come inside! Come inside!" Alyssa said. CR-S01 and Maria gladly accepted.

…

Gabriel and Tomoe were making their to Naomi's house. Gabriel wanted to get there as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Gabriel lacked the money to pay taxicab driver while Tomoe used most of it up shopping, so both doctors had to settle for walking to Naomi's. Tomoe, of course, could easily have used her skills as a ninja to run to Naomi's but she decided not too. It as more fun walking with friends. Besides, if she walked with Dr. Cunningham, she might be able to figure out why he had been acting so suspiciously.

"So why have you been acting so odd lately Dr. Cunningham?" Tomoe asked.

"That Tomoe," Gabriel began to answer. "is a secret." Tomoe frowned a little. Gabriel couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry. You'll know eventually!"

…

"I can't you got here so early!" Maria said.

"Yeah!" Joshua said. It was courtesy to wait for everyone before eating so Maria, Joshua, Alyssa, and CR-S01 began to wait for Tomoe and Gabriel. As they did, Maria decided to chat with Joshua and Alyssa while CR-S01 saw some of Naomi's old medical books, intrigued and wanting to learn more in the medical field, he began reading them. As Maria and Joshua chatted, Alyssa began to wander off to the red-eyed doctor sitting on the chair, far from everyone else. CR-S01 had become so engrossed in the book that hadn't even notice the girl walking towards him.

"Hi!" Alyssa greeted. CR-S01 dropped the book surprise. Alyssa couldn't help but giggle.

"What is it?" CR-S01 asked. "Is there something you need?"

"Nothing." Alyssa answered. "I just was wondering why everyone calls you doctor."

"It's because I'm doctor." CR-S01 answered.

"I know." Alyssa answered. "But we always call them Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Tachibanna… Why do they call you Doctor only? How come they don't say your name?" Maria shot a look immediately at the two. Maria and Joshua were talking on the carpet so they could still hear what they were saying. Maria couldn't help but feel bad for the surgeon. He still hadn't remember everything, sure a bit of his childhood but what else?

That was it! No name, birthday, where he grew up, friends, other relatives… And she was right. CR-S01 felt his heart ache a bit at the thought that he didn't even have a name. A real name. But he knew Alyssa didn't mean to offend him. She had no idea after all about his amnesia. He knew if he answered that he didn't know, the girl would feel terrible. He quickly smiled and said. "Because it's really long."

"Really?" Alyssa asked. "How long?"

"Enough that I can't say it either." CR-S01 said.

"Wow!" Alyssa said.

*THUMP* *THUMP*

"I'll get it!" Alyssa said before running off. CR-S01 sighed a low, depressed sigh to himself that none could see or hear. But somehow, Maria knew what he was doing. Maria couldn't help but feel terrible for the surgeon.

"Yo!" Gabriel greeted.

"It's nice to see to you again Alyssa." Tomoe greeted.

"Doctors!" Alyssa said.

Naomi said. "That was quick." Alyssa smiled and ran off.

"Joshua!" Alyssa said. Gabriel twitched.

"Naomi…" he muttered. Naomi ignored him and looked away.

"Hey doctor!" Joshua greeted. "Nice to see you again!"

"Hey!" Gabriel greeted back. "Nice to see you too. Doing well kid?" After seeing him run off, Maria picked herself up and walked to the surgeon who had continued to read after his conversation with Alyssa. He was yet again engrossed with the book and so, didn't notice the paramedic coming towards him.

"You okay?" Maria asked. CR-S01 was obviously surprised but answered back calmly "I'm alright Maria. Don't worry about me."

"Don't worry?" Maria whispered. "For Pete's sake-"

"Maria." CR-S01 said sternly which surprised Maria. There were only two times he would talked this way, during surgery and during emergencies and desperate situations that called his full attention. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright." Maria gave him a concerned and doubtful look.

*THUMP* *THUMP*

"Coming!" Alyssa said before opening the door yet again. Everyone looked at the door with surprise. Naomi immediately withdrew to the dining room as Tomoe gasped to the entrance and Gabriel was left speechless. Maria and CR-S01 looked at each other in surprise. Maria was about to go see why they heard Tomoe gasp until she heard two voices yell at each other.

"Lisa?" Gabriel said.

"Gabriel?" Lisa yelled.


	19. Chapter 19

Everyone remained quiet during the dinner. An awkward, silent atmosphere surrounded everyone in the room with exceptions to three. Alyssa and Joshua, both who were oblivious to the awkwardness, and CR-S01, who was confused with what had just happened. "Umm…" CR-S01 whispered to Maria. "What just happened?"

"Don't you see?" Maria said. "It's that woman sitting next to Gabe!"

"Huh?" CR-S01 asked still unable to understand the situation.

"That's Lisa! Gabe's wife!" Maria answered.

"The one whom he divorced?" CR-S01 asked.

"No," Maria whispered sarcastically. "She's the one he just met tonight on their first date, yes of course the one he divorced!"

"Ahh…" CR-S01 said, obviously confused by Maria's quick words. He had only recently been out of prison and so, he couldn't understand or follow some of the things that others could easily. Maria sighed to herself.

"Never mind." Maria whispered. "Yeah she's the one Gabe divorced."

"So why is Joshua unaware of-" Gabriel shot a glare at the surgeon. CR-S01 flinched and stopped the question. Lisa noticed the obvious tension in the room and sighed to herself. She knew it had to be cleared up immediately and the only way she knew was…

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Lisa asked to her ex-husband.

"What? Why?" Gabriel asked. Lisa narrowed her eyes at him and got up to leave to the other room. Gabriel sighed in frustration and followed. CR-S01, Maria, Joshua, Alyssa, and Tomoe all looked at each with equally puzzled faces.

"So what do you need to talk about?" Gabriel asked.

"The tension, obviously." Lisa said. "Joshua doesn't know yet right?"

"No…" Gabriel answered with a hint of remorse. Lisa couldn't help but sympathize Gabriel. What father wouldn't want their own son to even know who they are?

"It still doesn't change the fact that we're all together now." Lisa said. "By the least, we should enjoy ourselves. I mean, it's technically his first dinner with you, even if he doesn't know it…"

Gabriel looked down a bit and nodded in agreement.

"Maybe this was a bad idea." Joshua whispered to Alyssa.

(Several hours ago…)

"Oh that reminds me mom!" Joshua said. "Alyssa wanted to invite you too!"

"Really?" Lisa said.

"Of course!" Joshua said. "You two haven't met yet!"

"Alright Joshua." Lisa answered with a small chuckle. "Tonight."

"At seven." Joshua said.

"At seven." Lisa laughed.

(Currently)

"Hmm…" Alyssa began mumbling. "I really thought this would work…"

"Me too." he whispered. "I thought when they saw each other, they would start chatting on how they met. Hey, maybe it can still work!"

"Huh?" Alyssa asked.

"Listen…" Joshua said before beginning to whisper to Alyssa's ear. Tomoe looked towards CR-S01 and Maria.

"Umm…" CR-S01 said. "Is this what normally happens during Thanksgiving?"

"Isn't it obvious enough?" Maria said angrily and sarcastically.

"Shouldn't we be more worried about Gabriel and Lisa?" Tomoe ask. "They just left and…"

"Hey!" Gabriel greeted a bit. The three looked at Gabriel and Lisa. CR-S01 wondered about what happened but knowing Gabriel would only stop him before he could, the surgeon remained silent. Maria and Tomoe thought the same way except due to Maria's lack of fear against Gabe as well sensitivity towards the situation, Maria proceeded to ask.

"So what happened back there Gabe?" Maria asked.

"Nothing important." Gabriel answered. "It's not like anything could happen in a span of three minutes."

"You obviously haven't seen the conditions I have to work in." Maria said.

"Actually I did." Gabriel pointed out. "Once remember?" Maria ignored him and began glare daggers to the diagnostician who chuckled at the irritated E.M.T. Tomoe and CR-S01 looked to each other. They both knew the night was about to get worse. Lisa sighed to herself as well and wished Gabriel would stop picking fights, even for once at least since they were in front of their son. Joshua and Alyssa on the other hand were to busy concocting a new plan to notice what was going on.

…

"What's with angry face?" Navel asked.

"Can it." Naomi answered angrily.

"I suppose this means I should stay quiet about this through out the night?" Navel asked.

"Yes." Naomi answered without hesitation. Everyone stared in surprise towards the blond man. Not a single one of them could recall him.

"Umm…" Gabriel said. "Have we met before?"

"I'm Navel." he introduced. "We met once during Dr. Kimishima's surgery." Everyone remembered the man except for CR-S01 and Maria. Since the two were in the operating during the time, none of the two could recognize him unlike everyone else.

"Oh yeah!" Gabriel said. "Nice to see you again."

"You visited quite a lot after Dr. Kimishima's surgery." Tomoe pointed out. Navel chuckled nervously. As the three chatted, CR-S01 looked at Maria in a confused look.

"Have we-" CR-S01 began.

"I don't have a clue." Maria cut in.

"Dinner's ready everyone!" Naomi said. Gabriel quickly took out his camcorder and grinned.

* * *

...

What do people do on Thanksgiving? I don't know cuz I never celebrated it before.


	20. Chapter 20

Gabriel was surprised and a tad bit disappointed. The food was actually good. Looks like no one was going to suffer tonight. Everyone looked at the diagnostician, wondering why on earth he was depressed. CR-S01 was confused on Gabriel's reaction. He wanted to ask if this was normal but he bit his lip and kept quiet as he was too scared of Marie's reaction to the question. He knew there would be a punch or two there. Everyone was already done eating and now everyone was going around doing something else. Gabriel and Lisa were still talking but no one knew what since it was a private conversation. Tomoe was busy chatting to Naomi, asking for the recipes of the food so she could try at home. During the conversation, he didn't know why, but Navel had a proud look on his face, as if he was being complimented. Maria, Joshua and surprisingly, Alyssa, were watching a brutal sport which, apparently, a lot of people were fond of. He couldn't understand why, what was so fun seeing about people get hurt by tackling strangers all for the reason of getting ball to a certain part off the field? He couldn't even stay long enough to hear what the name of the sport was. As for himself, CR-S01, deciding not to watch anymore of the sport, went back to reading the medical books. He was, apparently, a speed reader, as some call it. He didn't know why people called him that. Four medical books in thirty minutes, what was so hard about that? Alyssa watched the surgeon on his fifth book. As much as she loved football and would never ever miss a game, and never did so far, but she couldn't stop wondering why the surgeon sat so far away again. Alyssa got up and crept towards the surgeon once more.

"S'cuse me." Alyssa poked, making sure this time not to make the surgeon jump. CR-S01 glanced to the young girl.

"What is it Alyssa?" he asked.

"So what's your nickname?" Alyssa asked in a whispering tone.

"What?" CR-S01asked in slight astonishment.

"Well, if your name is too long," Alyssa reasoned. "they have to call you by something else right? It's called a nickname."

"A few actually," CR-S01 answered. "Kid and CR, but everyone mostly calls me doctor."

"Even outside?" Alyssa asked.

"Yes, even outside." CR-S01 said. Alyssa didn't talk after that. Instead, she began thinking. CR-S01 didn't know what Alyssa was thinking about but knew obviously that she was in a deep thought. Joshua looked at his watch and ran to Alyssa.

"It's time." he whispered. Alyssa's eyes immediately began to sparkle in excitement before the two ran off.

"I wonder what that was about?" CR-S01 thought.

…

"Remember the plan, Alyssa?" Joshua asked.

"Yup!" Alyssa answered. "You talk to Gabe and I talk to your mom!"

"Good!" Joshua said. "And we make both of them don't hear the other, okay?"

"Okay!" Alyssa answered. The two children separated. Joshua went to Dr. Cunningham and Alyssa to Joshua's mom. They stopped talking and separated ways a while ago so now the two could proceed with their plan.

"Hey doctor!" Joshua greeted.

"Oh hey kiddo." Gabriel said. "What's up?"

"Well," Joshua said. Joshua realized that he hadn't exactly thought this through. He knew asking directly was a bad idea since that would usually cause the diagnostician to change the subject or leave. Joshua began thinking of what to say.

"What did you and my mom talk about?" Joshua asked.

"Oh that." Gabriel said. "Nothing much."

"Really?" Joshua asked. "You talked a long while."

"That was because it was about adult stuff." Gabriel quickly excused.

"Adult stuff?" Joshua said. "What adult stuff?"

"…"

Gabriel remained silent. Instead he began narrowing his eyes and began eyeing the boy with suspicion which Joshua couldn't help but flinch at.

…

"Hello!" Alyssa greeted rather loudly in excitement, indirectly causing the woman to jump. "I'm Alyssa! What's your name?"

"Oh," Lisa said. "I'm Lisa. But, just call me Ms. Cunningham."

"Miss and not Mrs.?" Alyssa asked.

"Ah, yes." Lisa said.

"How come?" Alyssa asked. "Is Joshua adopted like me?"

"No." Lisa immediately answered. "It's just that-" Alyssa was definitely better at this than Joshua. There were some advantages to being a daughter of a forensic investigator and friends with Mr. Navel and Naomi's friends. She could this in her sleep.

"Almost got us there." Gabriel said from behind. Alyssa jumped and Lisa looked in surprise. "I talked to the kid. He spilled everything." Alyssa immediately began to quiver in surprise and fear from being caught. Lisa stared in surprise at Alyssa. She didn't know whether to feel surprise, angry or amazed at how sneaky Alyssa was. She was just lucky that her son was a terrible at keeping secrets and lying. Gabriel felt relieved that years of interrogating stubborn patients had finally paid off for something else. Alyssa ducked and quickly walked away. She quickly met up with Joshua.

"What happened?" Alyssa asked.

"It turns out I didn't think it to much through." Joshua said. After two minutes of thinking, Joshua opened his mouth and said "Maybe it'd be best we wait for them to tell us."

"Yeah." Alyssa agreed.

…

"So what was that all about?" Maria asked.

"She asked if I had a nickname." CR-S01 answered.

"Okay." Maria shrugged. It wasn't much. "Want to go watch football?"

"Is that what it's called?" CR-S01 asked. "No. I'm not interested that kind of sport." Maria immediately shot a glare CR-S01. Immediately, a cold feeling ran through the surgeon's spine and a feeling that he had just said something he shouldn't have.

"How could you not like it?" Maria said but in a slight, lower tone.

"It's just that," CR-S01 defended. "It's a bit, barbaric isn't it?" Maria immediately glared at him more with a fierce and intimidating appearance.

"What? How could you say that?" CR-S01 wanted to run out as fast as he could but his legs wouldn't move, most likely from fear "That's it! You're coming with me to watch every bit of it tills it's done!"

It wasn't soon before CR-S01 found himself being dragged away from the chair but luckily kept the book he had been currently been reading with him.

"But-" CR-S01 attempted to reason but a single and sudden glare from Maria silenced him. Tomoe ,who watching what was happening, couldn't help but sigh. Tomoe excused herself politely from Naomi and walked towards the two.

"What are doing Maria?" Tomoe asked.

"Just trying to get him to watch football." Maria answered casually.

"Well, Naomi needs to talk to him about her operation." Tomoe said. "She said a doctor she knows wanted some information on it for research." Tomoe can a bit oblivious sometimes but when it came to lying, even CR-S01 had a hard time telling. Maria frowned for a minute and let go of his arm.

"You're lucky today." Maria said before leaving. CR-S01 straightened himself quickly as he was used to this sort of thing happening. But Maria was right, he really was lucky.

"I'll get what I can as quickly as possible." CR-S01 said.

"Ah," Tomoe said. "That was a bit of a lie." CR-S01 was surprised but decided not to react in case Maria was nearby.

"Why don't you talk with me and Naomi?" Tomoe suggested. Preferably, he wanted to continue reading the medical book but, with Maria around… CR-S01 nodded in agreement and walked with Tomoe.

…

An amount of time had passed. A very few, around thirty minutes. CR-S01 was close to finishing his ninth book. He wished he could continue reading but it was beginning to get late and he was growing tired. The sport was coming to a close as well. Ms. Cunningham and Joshua already left. Maria ,who forgot all about what happened earlier during midway of the game, and Alyssa were still excited on watching the football sport. Tomoe joined in at some point while Naomi went to talk with Navel. CR-S01 closed the book and stood up to stretch his legs.

"Hey kid," Gabriel asked. "You enjoying your first Thanksgiving?"

"Technically, it's not my first." CR-S01 said. "But yes."

"How come you're not with them?" Gabriel asked.

"Well, I'm not a fan of the sport." CR-S01 answered plainly.

"Truth be told," Gabriel started to say. "I'm not much of a fan either. Yet, every time during get-togethers like this, I usually stomach it."

"How come?" CR-S01 asked.

"Because it's fun." Gabriel said. "I may hate the show, but I hanging with friends is worth it." CR-S01 couldn't help but look at the group and think.

"Thinking about something kid?" Gabriel asked. CR-S01 opened his mouth to answer but Navel came about and interrupted before he could.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Navel asked Gabriel. Gabriel raised an eyebrow with a quizzical face.

"About what?" Gabriel asked. Navel gave a nervous chuckle before suddenly pulling to the next room. CR-S01 was equally confused as he saw them run off. He didn't know what it was about. All he could make out of Navel words as he pulled Dr. Cunningham to the next room was "Naomi" and "How do I tell-" CR-S01 looked back at Maria, Tomoe and Alyssa. Thinking about it through, CR-S01 was technically and had been alone for eight years. Isolated from everyone. Why was he avoiding people? CR-S01 thought for a few minutes before walking to sit down with them. Apparently, it surprised everyone, which made it uncomfortable for him.

"Woah, you're actually gonna watch?" Maria said. "You lost a bet or something?"

"Is it so strange that I decided to participate in these traditions?" CR-S01 asked.

"Geez," Maria groaned. "don't say it like that! You'll spoil the fun!"

"Well, I for one, am glad you are joining us." Tomoe said. CR-S01 felt a little better that someone didn't react in a negative way to his presence.

"So," CR-S01 said. "How does this sport work exactly?" After that question. It's safe to say that throughout the game, Alyssa and Maria spent it by explaining to CR-S01 how the game worked. Unfortunately, it didn't get anywhere.

"W-What?" CR-S01 asked.

"Augh!" Maria screamed. "You're genius surgeon and you can't even get a simple sport?" CR-S01 looked down in shame.

"He's trying his hardest!" Tomoe tried to defend.

That went on throughout the night. By then, everyone was worn out and exhausted. Alyssa, from explaining. Maria, from both explaining and from picking fights with CR-S01, who was also tired from defending himself and attempting to understand football. Tomoe was tired from trying to keep Maria and CR-S01's fights from getting to much out of hand. Gabriel, Naomi, and, Navel were just tired.

"That's it." Gabriel yawned. "I'm turning in for tonight." CR-S01 looked at wall-clock. He had to admit it, was getting late. Besides, he didn't want to continue being yelled at by Maria throughout the night.

"Maybe I should go home too." CR-S01 said. "There's work tomorrow."

"I shall too." Tomoe said.

"Goodnight Dr. Kimishima." Navel said.

"Yeah." Maria agreed. "Night Alyssa!"

"Night-night!" Alyssa said in a drowsy manner. Naomi picked up her daughter and gave everyone an equally drowsy, goodbye. Everyone went outside and each was about to part ways.

"Hey," Gabriel called.

"What is it?" CR-S01 asked.

"Just wondering what you thought about your first Thanksgiving." he asked. "Enjoyed yourself?" CR-S01 remained quiet to the question. After a few minutes of silence, CR-S01 mumbled an answer.

"…"

"What?" Gabriel asked. Gabriel couldn't help but scratch his head as he saw the surgeon walk off.

…

CR-S01 closed the door behind him. He looked at the interior of the house he, Rosalia, and Professor Sartre used to stay. After being released, he chose to stay here. Of course, the house was in need of repairs and cleaning but CR-S01 was already trying what he could to solve all the problems. He was already using most of his salary from his work as a surgeon to make repairs while he continued to clean the house. For some odd reason, he felt used to doing it. CR-S01 sat tiredly on his bed and looked at a photo he placed next to his bed. It was an old photo he found while had been cleaning through Professor Sartre's room. He couldn't help but pick it up. As he did, he couldn't chuckle a small laugh.

* * *

It isn't much of an ending. The Christmas chapter will come up after time.


	21. Chapter 21

Christmas

CR-S01 felt quite comfortable. He couldn't understand why everyone was shivering.

"How the heck can you be comfortable in this cold?" Maria yelled.

"I just am." CR-S01 answered.

"I guess it must've been all those years in that fridge." Gabriel suggested. CR-S01 nodded in agreement with Maria. The three were all in the lobby. The three didn't have work for a while so they ended up in the lobby together by coincidence.

"Now that I think of it," Gabriel said. "This'll be your first Christmas since the outbreak."

"Yeah!" Maria said. "You've got to come to the Christmas party tonight!"

"I suppose I don't have a choice?" CR-S01 asked.

"Of course not." Maria answered.

"Nope." Gabriel said. CR-S01 sighed. It wasn't soon before Hank came along. He carried a basket with him.

"Did you guys get a secret Santa yet?" Hank asked.

"Secret Santa?" CR-S01 asked.

"You picked out a slip of paper. You give the random person a gift." Maria said.

"I don't think I've gotten yet." Gabriel said. "Maria? Kid?"

"Busy with work." Maria said. "I'll get one now." CR-S01 shrugged and went to pick out along with Maria and Gabriel.

"I got-"

"SHUSH!" Maria and Gabriel said in unison. "It's a secret Santa because it's suppose to be a secret until you give the present!"

"A-Alright." CR-S01 said nervously. CR-S01 looked at his slip again. "So how do you know what to get for that for person?"

"I don't know." Maria said with a shrug. "It all depends on the person."

"Like asking them?" CR-S01 asked.

"Pfft." Maria said. "That'll spoil the fun!"

"What fun?" CR-S01 asked.

"The surprise, kid." Gabriel answered.

"Isn't it more important about the gift than the surprise?" CR-S01 asked.

"Both are important!" Maria said. "It's less fun without the surprise!"

"Okay…" CR-S01 said, mentally noting that.

…

Several hours passed since CR-S01 was at the lobby. He just finished a surgery but now he had nothing to do. He decided to walk around outside. He liked feeling the cold wind as he walked, he especially liked the garden. Not many people went there so it was always peaceful and quiet there. As he walked, he felt a hard feeling struck the back of his head. But he hard time telling if it was truly hard since whatever it was, fell apart into his back, and that whatever it was, it was as cold as his cell. He jumped in surprise and quickly turned.

"Maria…" he thought.

"Gotcha!" Maria said. "Everyone's having a snowball fight! Wanna join?"

"If I say no, are you going to drag to me the fight?" CR-S01 asked.

"What do you think?" Maria asked. CR-S01 sighed silently to himself. Ever since it snowed, everyone seemed to try to encourage CR-S01 to participate in every winter activity they knew. Maria was snowball. Ever since it first snowed, Maria dragged him to every snowball fight that happened with her knowledge. He really didn't like it. He liked the beauty of the snow itself rather than participating in snowball fights, but only for the reason that he seemed to be targeted by everyone during the fights. It was snow but it hurt a lot, in terms of quantity. Though he had to admit, it was fun. It made him wonder if he ever enjoyed the snow like that in his past.

…

"So everyone know the rules?" Maria asked. Everyone nodded. Gabriel wasn't there since he another patient to diagnose. "All right! Rock, paper, scissors, Hank!"

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

"Scissors!" Maria said.

"Rock!" Hank said.

"Aww!" Maria groaned. Rock, paper, scissors was usually how they settled on who went first to pick on who was on their side. CR-S01 was usually picked last so that was another reason why he didn't play often. In this case, it was Hank and because of Hank's sympathetic personality, he picked CR-S01.

"All right!" Maria yelled. "On the count of three, we throw at each other!"

"You okay kid?" Hank asked. "Try not to go down as fast or go to an open area again."

"I know." CR-S01 said with a hint of shame.

"Three!" Maria started. "Two, one…GO!"

…

Now everything during and after that was a pretty messy scene which involved a lot of snow being hurled everywhere. To give you guys a hint of what's going on, Maria threw the snow like a Gatling, Tomoe,

…

I won't get to that but her skills as a ninja came in handy and both proved terrifying and painful. Hank and CR-S01 lost obviously but Hank put up a more impressive fight and resilience against Maria and Tomoe since he was a retired soldier. CR-S01 however, it was very pitiful. Of course, both Tomoe and Maria did aim for him through-out fight.

…

"You've got some on your hair, kid." Gabriel pointed out. CR-S01 looked up to his hair. As he saw bits of snow fall off his hair, he brushed the rest of the snow off his hair. "And your shoulder." Gabriel pointed again. CR-S01 proceeded his shoulder. "Got creamed again I see." Gabriel said.

"What?" CR-S01 asked, obviously not understanding the diagnostician's words.

"Never mind," Gabriel said. "So what're you getting for your secret Santa?"

"Don't know yet." CR-S01 answered.

"Well, if it's anything I've ever learned," Gabriel said "it's that you make idle chatter with them."

"I thought Maria said not to ask." CR-S01 asked.

"Idle chatter kid." Gabriel said. "Idle chatter, not asking."

"Ah." CR-S01 said.

"Anyway," Gabriel said. "I'm gonna go leave early. Gotta go buy my secret Santa a gift."

…

"Tomoe!" Maria called. "Are you going to the Christmas party tonight?"

"Of course." Tomoe answered. "I'm just wondering what to get for my secret Santa."

"You too?" Maria said in a surprised tone. "I'm pretty stumped too. Hey, why don't we both go to the mall get presents for our secret Santa?"

"All right." Tomoe answered.


	22. Chapter 22

"Have you thought of anything yet?" Alyssa asked.

"No, Alyssa." Joshua sighed. "It's kind off hard to think of a gift for a doctor."

"It's just as hard thinking of one for Naomi!" Alyssa whined.

"What about that blonde guy who follows her around?" Joshua asked.

"He's easy." Alyssa answered. "He likes those old, rock music."

Alyssa and Joshua were in the mall trying to think of what gifts to get for their friends. Alyssa knew it was easy to get a present for Navel as Joshua knew how easy it was to get a present for his mother. Joshua made sure to learn what his mother liked so as not to make the same mistake he made on Mother's day. The only problem now was what they needed get for the doctors they knew well and were fond of but didn't know what their likes were. The doctor was always at work and so was Naomi the two didn't what to get for them.

"I think the real problem is the money." Joshua said. "The things they like probably is gonna cost more than our allowances combined." Alyssa nodded on agreement.

"Maybe we should make them something?" Alyssa suggested.

"Like what?" Joshua openly asked. Alyssa looked around haphazardly. She didn't think about it too much, she was just saying random ideas off the bat.

"Hat? Clothes?" Alyssa suggested randomly.

"We don't know how to knit or sew." Joshua replied.

"Cookies?"

"A bit childish."

"Necklace?"

"We're already low on money."

"Cake?"

Alyssa and Joshua stayed quiet on the bench for a few minutes. "Maybe we should've gone with that first." Joshua said.

"Yeah," Alyssa agreed. "but how do we bake a cake?"

"Huh?" Joshua said in surprise. "You don't know how to bake?"

"Naomi and I mostly eat out." Alyssa defended. "Besides, the utensils are all burnt and unusable so we can't use any of them."

"Then let's use my kitchen!" Joshua said. "Mom's gonna eat out anyway so we can bake it tonight."

"Yay!" Alyssa said. "But what the ingredients we need to bake a cake?"

"Hmm." Joshua thought.

…

CR-S01 groaned in a small tone. He had no idea how hard it was to buy a simple gift for a secret Santa. This was one of the occasions where his lack of social skills proved a fatal disadvantage. He really had no idea what to get for his secret Santa. In fact, all he was doing now was roaming around the mall trying to think of ideas.

*sigh*

But right now he needed to focus on buying his secret Santa a gift. He wondered what she would like.

…

"So what do plan on getting Maria?" Tomoe asked.

"Don't know." Maria said. "I'm still thinking about it."

"I think I have an idea." Tomoe remarked. "But I think it's too expected."

"Really?" Maria asked. "What is it?"

"A book." Tomoe answered.

"That's it?" Maria asked. "Who would-Oh, don't tell me you got…" Tomoe nodded her head.

"Man," Maria said. " You either got the easiest or the hardest guy in the world to get a present!"

"It's not that hard." Tomoe intervened. "After all, once you get to know a person more, the easier it gets to get him or her a present."

"Okay," Maria said. "So how well exactly do you know?"

Tomoe stayed quiet for a few minutes. "Not much."

"That's what I thought." Maria said. "But I guess yours is easier than mine. My head's completely blank!"

"I'm sure you'll get an idea soon." Tomoe said.

"I hope so." Maria groaned. "I wonder how everyone else is doing."

…

"Hmm." Gabriel thought. He wondered what to get for his secret Santa. But currently he was having a hard time, not with the present because he knew exactly what that person liked. The problem was fighting the temptation to purposely get something that she didn't like on purpose, just for laughs. Just kidding, he wasn't that cruel, but he is facing a dilemma like the others. The problem was the kind present he was getting. He wasn't really into those things since he knew it was too much work, hence, didn't know a single bit about it. Who knew actually knowing about something as violent as that was actually going to be useful in the future. Not him. While he walked, he saw a familiar face. And then an idea popped into his head. If he was going to suffer, would it hurt someone if he forced that "someone" along the ride? Of course, that's why he was going to do it anyway.

…

Among everyone, Hank was the only one who was prepared for the secret Santa and so, bought a present beforehand. Esha found out of course, that's why he was in charge of setting the Christmas party. There was the food, decorations, tree… Thankfully, some staff members had decided stay behind to help him set up. Good thing too, since a lot of doctors were coming.

"I got the tree!" Darnell yelled. "Can you help me with this Dr. Freebird?"

"Sure thing." Hank answered.

"Can you help me with the decors?" Emma asked.

"After I set up the tree." Hank answered. "Can you help Emma, Darnell?"

"Sure thing, Dr. Freebird."

Hank wondered how everyone else was doing.


	23. Chapter 23

"What should me make?" Alyssa asked. Joshua and Alyssa were busy at his place, skimming through his mother's cookbooks for a recipe for the cake. But, it was a lot harder than they thought to pick a recipe to bake.

"Maybe we should do a Christmas cake?" Alyssa suggested.

"But then that's too predictable." Joshua said. "Maybe we should try something that'll surprise them."

"Like those ice cream with firecrackers?" Alyssa asked.

"Something like that." Joshua said.

"Hmm…." Alyssa thought. "Angel food cake?"

"Angel what?" Joshua asked.

"Angel food cake." Alyssa said. "See, it's right here."

"Alyssa," Joshua said as he glanced at the recipe. "I think you might be on to something."

…

"Why am I here?" CR-S01 asked bluntly.

"Because," Gabriel began. "I'm having a hard time and I decided drag someone into my misery for entertainment." CR-S01 sighed. Among everyone that seemed to be dragged into a problem, why was did it have to be him for majority of the time? Of course he thought of asking Dr. Cunningham for help but when he did, the diagnostician refused. His reason was that CR-S01 needed to learn himself on how to do it. So for CR-S01, it was back to the drawing board. But if Dr. Cunningham wasn't willing to help him, why was he asking him for help.

"Because technically I'm your superior and you're the newbie." Gabriel answered. "A newbie has to do what their superior tells them to do."

"Why?" CR-S01 asked.

"Because we can affect your salary." Gabriel laughed jokingly but CR-S01 wasn't so sure about it. He didn't really want his salary cut, especially since he was already spending a lot on the cost of repairing his house. CR-S01 sighed once more before glancing back at the shops. Several hours before the Christmas party and he still had no idea what to get. This wasn't the easiest Christmas he could remember.

…

"So what are you planning to get?" Maria asked.

"The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals." Tomoe answered. Maria stayed quiet as she stared at her friend.

"Really?" Maria said in a grunted tone. "Of all the books, you pick that?"

"Why?" Tomoe asked. "It's not a bad idea."

"Well, I think happier book should be better," Maria whined. "rather than an informational book. Besides, isn't he good at that already?"

"Good point." Tomoe said. "But won't he be offended?"

"Hey, he puts up with me doesn't he?" Maria reasoned.

"That doesn't mean I should do it as well." Tomoe said. "Now please help me find something."

"Fine." Maria grumbled. "But you better help me afterwards!"

…

"I'm not sure it's a good idea to get that." CR-S01 pointed out with a slight sense of fear.

"And that's exactly why I'm getting it." Gabriel said. "It's something only she'll accept without being offended."

"I meant for her co-workers." CR-S01 stated.

"Don't worry kid." Gabriel reassured. "They won't let her in with that."

"I already thought of a gift. Are you sure there isn't any other," CR-S01 said. "safer, options?"

"Still thinking on that." Gabriel said. "So what are you planning to get?"

"…"

"Yo kid," Gabriel called. "Did you hear me?"

"I heard you." CR-S01 responded. "But Maria said about it being a surprise and-"

"You're supposed to keep it a secret from your secret Santa." Gabriel groaned. "So tell me." Even with that, the surgeon continued to stay quiet. CR-S01 just guessed that he wasn't used to sharing anything, not even information with anyone unless it had something to do with work. He was glad Maria wasn't hear. If she was, she would've probably threatened to beat him.

"Quiet one, eh?" Gabriel smirked. "Well, I've just got the perfect remedy for that." CR-S01quivered at hearing Gabriel's tone. Whenever that tone was heard, it usually would be followed by something else, it was always something that meant either pain or trouble. But CR-S01 still stayed quiet. He had no idea why, he just did. Besides, there was nothing too horrible that he could do to the surgeon now anyway. There was nothing for him to use, they were in a public place, and Maria wasn't here either. It wasn't until Gabriel flipped his cellphone that he began to worry. He didn't catch what the diagnostician said because he walked away as he talked. One thing was sure, whatever it was Gabriel had up his sleeve, it was far from good.

* * *

Yeah...

I'm losing interest. I blame the fact that my interest is shifting from Trauma Team to something else.


	24. Chapter 24

"Egg whites, salt…" Alyssa went over. "What's cream of tartar?"

"Umm," Joshua said. He placed the salt and cake flour on the counter. "cream made from tartar?"

"I don't think that's it." Alyssa said.

"Yeah," Joshua agreed. "But I'm sure whatever-it-is should be in fridge. You check the fridge and I'll double check the pantry."

"Okay." Alyssa said. "What's vanilla? Like vanilla ice cream?"

"Nah," Joshua disagreed. "I found a bottle here."

After looking through various recipes of angel food cakes, Joshua and Alyssa finally decided to try to bake a basic and simple one first. It's true that their lack of experience meant lack of knowledge for them in certain fields but after hours off seeing smoke emitting from the kitchen, several visits from firemen, and a visit to an insurance office, Alyssa was smart enough to know not to do anything beyond their capacity. The result of that is nothing but trouble and numerous phone calls from neighbors who are worried about the smoke from the windows every now and then.

"I guess this is everything." Joshua said. "Alyssa, can you check?"

"Okee-Dokee!" Alyssa chimed. "Eggs?"

"Check."

"Almond extract?"

"Check."

"Vanilla?"

"Another definite check."

"Cake flour?"

"Check."

"Sugar?"

"Definitely."

"Lastly," Alyssa said. "cream of tartar."

"…Did you check the fridge Alyssa?" Joshua asked.

"Of course." Alyssa answered with a slight hint of annoyance. "Nothing."

"…Uh-oh."

…

CR-S01 wasn't the type to hold any grudge whatsoever. Not even against someone who had done something as terrible as Albert Sartre. So this was the first time the surgeon himself had bared a grudge. Even more surprisingly, it was Dr. Cunningham but at the same time it was understandable. After the stunt Dr. Cunningham pulled, even the most kind hearted person wouldn't be able to forgive him.

"Feeling angry I see." Gabriel commented. CR-S01didn't raise a word. All he did was walk and glare at the diagnostician for the time.

"…"

"What?" the diagnostician asked but the surgeon remained silent. Gabriel sighed to himself and wondered how to get the kid to talk. Of course it wasn't that hard to figure out. The answer was plain and simple, annoy the kid until he talks. If there was anything fun about CR-S01, it was that he was one of the easiest people in the world to mess with, to make things better, CR-S01 believed, as he was a grown adult, he shouldn't act in anyway childish, that meant he shouldn't lose his temper. Especially in public. But Gabriel had to admit, he was a bit hesitant. CR-S01 may not lose his temper and show it like Maria (physical assaults) but it didn't mean he would take being pushed around. He already learned that on the first of April. And everyone in Resurgem knew that what CR-S01 could and would definitely do was far worst than any lashing Maria could give. It was a serious dilemma for Gabriel, annoy or don't annoy?

"Hey!"

Well, that didn't matter now…

"Gabe?" Maria said.

"Doctor too?" Tomoe said. CR-S01 ignored there surprised faces and continued to grumble under his breath.

…

"So how much money do have on you?" Joshua asked depressingly.

"Hmm…" Alyssa grumbled. "$2 and five cents. What about you?"

"A dollar." Joshua groaned. "Why does a cream of tartar have to cause $8.99?"

Alyssa and Joshua sighed to themselves. After realizing that they missing one ingredient, despite being so close, the last ingredient they needed was so far. The cashier said that since they didn't have enough money to pay for it, they couldn't buy it. That got the two really down.

"So is that everything Dr. Freebird?" Darnell asked.

"Yes, by the looks of it." Hank answered. Emma had asked them twenty minutes earlier if they could go back the pastry shop to get the Christmas cake she ordered a week ago. And carrying a large cake was not a task for a woman. It was a good thing all that time on helping Claire in her shopping had finally paid off, which was the ability to balance a large cake while at the same time, hold shopping bags on his arms. But don't get the wrong idea, Hank is just carrying the majority of the load, Darnell was carrying his share too but it's not as much. The extra bags contained some food and Christmas ornaments and decors since the ones from last year broke or had bugs living in them. It wasn't soon before they past by mutters of small voices.

"What're we supposed to do?"

"Isn't it obvious? We go look for another recipe!"

"But it'll take too long! Christmas'll be over by then!"

"You're right there…" Hank felt he heard those voices somewhere before. That's when it him…

* * *

What do you guys do when you get writer's block or need inspiration? Because I really need some help with my blocks...


	25. Chapter 25

"So can you do it for me Maria?" Gabriel asked.

"Of course." Maria grinned. "Besides, I'm kind of curious myself." Maria and Gabriel made no intention to hide their conversation, and CR-S01 and Tomoe over heard every bit of their conversation. However, unlike Tomoe, CR-S01 knew full well what the two were talking about. He couldn't help quiver from a mixture of both fear(Maria) and anger(Gabriel). He shook so much that even Tomoe couldn't help but notice it.

"Is everything alright, Doctor?" Tomoe asked.

"Yes, don't worry about me." CR-S01 replied. Strangely enough, he stopped shaking but only because an idea popped into his mind.

…

"Thanks, Doctor!" Joshua said. Alyssa and Joshua couldn't help but stare at the bottle in his hands as they said their thanks to Hank for buying them the last they needed, cream of tartar. After what the two went through to get one, which wasn't much, they were happy to have finally obtained what they needed. Darnell on the other hand was a bit hesitant about all of this. "Is this alright, Dr. Freebird?" he asked.

"Of course." Hank answered. "Besides, we can't just leave them alone."

"But can we actually take care of them," Darnell asked. "at the same time while decorating?"

"I'm sure we'll find a way somehow." Hank assured. It didn't make it any better that the two saw Alyssa and Joshua begin to wander off separately.

…

Now even Gabriel had no idea what the kid was up to. Now he seemed to be going everywhere and buying random supplies from various shops. He wasn't the only one confused. Maria and Tomoe had no idea either. They already tried asking him but that didn't work and for once, CR-S01 actually didn't so much as flinch at Maria's threats. Okay, maybe a little, actually, he showed every expression of fear you could think of but it was surprising for once he didn't waver under Maria. And for all who knew them well enough, that was a pretty big feat. Tomoe was the only who didn't bother, pester, threaten, or hurt CR-S01. She was also the only one who intervened when things got serious and the only one sensible enough to understand that CR-S01 still wasn't experienced in the outside world too understand all the things that went on. Other than hospital equipment, CR-S01 probably didn't how to use any other electronic appliances.

"So what are you getting for your Secret Santa?" Tomoe asked.

"I don't really know." CR-S01 answered.

"Really? I thought you had an idea with all those stuff you've been buying."

"It's not really for the Secret Santa."

"Then what is it for then?" CR-S01 remained silent. It was a fortunate thing that Tomoe was a patient and reasonable person.

"Alright then." Tomoe said. "But at least let me help you with your gift." Thanks to Gabriel, CR-S01 was obviously surprised by her statement. "What is it?" Tomoe asked.

"Nothing." CR-S01 quickly responded. "It was just that, Dr. Cunningham…"

"Say no more." Tomoe chuckled. "Gabriel is always like that to newcomers."

"But I've been working in Resurgem for a year." CR-S01 responded.

"True. But you were only there to work off your sentence so I guess that didn't actually count." CR-S01 sulked a bit at the comment.

…

"Aww." Emma swooned. "There so adorable. We'll be taking care of them for the night?"

"Yes." Darnell answered. "Until the party of course, then we pass them to Dr. Cunningham."

"What?" Emma yelled, though she really hadn't meant to. Joshua and Alyssa, who were playing in the across the room, jumped in surprise, nearly dropping their prized (and longed searched) cream of tartar. It's only been a night actually, but to the two kids, it seemed forever.

"Are you serious?" Emma whispered. "Joshua is…"

"Is something wrong?" Joshua intervened. Now it was Emma and Darnell's turn jump. "You guys look a little shaken up."

"Oh don't worry, it's nothing." Emma and Darnell said simultaneously. "Go ahead, I'll help you guys with cake later." Alyssa and Joshua left with a grin on their faces.

*Phew* the two sighed. "But is this alright? I mean, If Dr. Cunningham finds out, he'll definitely…"

"Don't worry." Darnell reassured. "We'll just keep them out of sight until the party."

"So we're just pass them before Dr. Cunningham can even run?" Emma asked.

"Christmas is a time for family after all, even if it's forced."

…

"Thank you for the help." CR-S01 said.

"It's no problem." Tomoe said. "I'm hoping to get a few ideas myself."

"I think we should start with the basics." Maria suggested, which surprised the two since none of the two had been helping. "What?"

"Nothing." the two answered simultaneously.

"So what's your idea?" Tomoe asked.

"Bookstore." Maria suggested. "That or food."

"Bookstore." all three agreed.

* * *

Currently working on another Fanfic, Bet. But I'm not funny, so please comment suggestions for jokes, gags, tricks, pranks or anything that makes you laugh because I'm really not so good with jokes. Very much appreciated.


	26. Chapter 26

Lucky for Tomoe, going to the bookstore gave her a good idea on what to get for a gift.

"How much is this?" Tomoe asked, making sure no one saw.

"$9.50" the man answered. While Tomoe was purchasing her gift, CR-S01, Maria, and Gabriel were going around trying to get ideas. By the way things were going, only Tomoe was the lucky one.

"Phht." Gabriel muttered.

"Hmm…" CR-S01 contemplated. "Maybe…or…"

"Like any of these would be good." Maria groaned. It just so happened that CR-S01 heard the groans.

"Having troubles too?" CR-S01 asked.

"Yeah." Maria moaned. "Sounds like you haven't gotten an idea either." CR-S01 nodded.

"You know," Maria said. "if you told me who your Secret Santa, maybe I could help."

"But you said-"

"I mean I you don't tell your Secret Santa." Maria corrected. "But you can ask a friend for help."

CR-S01 had hard time taking in the term "friend" in. With everything that's been happening lately, CR-S01 had a hard time remembering why he regarded her as a friend. Maria thought of CR-S01 as clueless and often made him do extra work and over time shifts. CR-S01 knew full well what he was doing was actually all the extra work Maria and Gabriel (and several others) didn't want to do, but he still felt compelled to do it anyway. He must have done it for a very long time because lately, he's beginning to wonder why he did it in the first place. CR-S01 knew if he said no, Maria would make a scene. CR-S01 stopped caring at some point about his own safety after some months of torment under Maria, he did, however, care about the hospital's name.

"It's…" CR-S01 whispered.

"Seriously?" Maria laughed. "Why didn't you say that before? I know just the perfect gift to get."

"Really?" CR-S01 stated in surprise.

"Of course!" Maria grinned. "Just remember you owe me for this later." CR-S01 sighed. He knew there was a catch. Maria and CR-S01 walked off the store, making sure no one saw.

"So where are we going?" CR-S01 asked.

"To-"

Since Maria and CR-S01 weren't looking where they going, it wasn't a bit surprising that the two bumped into someone. What was surprising was who they bumped in to.

"Oh," CR-S01 said. "I apologize, I-"

CR-S01 and Maria stared in surprise.

"You!"

Ian brushed off some of the dirt on his knees. "Well, hello again I suppose."

"What're you doing here?" Maria asked.

"I still have a life outside of work." Ian stated. "I was Christmas shopping."

"It's just so happen-"

"I kind of have a hard time believing that." Maria interrupted.

Ian remained silent. "And you two?"

"Christmas shopping." the two answered.

"Why don't you join us?" CR-S01 asked, trying to be friendly. For some reason, that statement seemed to surprise the two.

"W-Wait a minute!" Maria said. "Won't it be a little awkward?"

"How?" CR-S01 asked. Maria and Ian couldn't help but sigh.

…

"Okay," Emma said. "You guys can finish up with frosting yourselves, right?"

"Sure!" Alyssa and Joshua said enthusiastically. Emma laughed before leaving. She had a hard time imagining that the two had once been patients of the hospital in need of dire, medical attention. She was glad they were doing well now but she wished Dr. Kimishima and Dr. Cunningham would just spent more time with them.

"So how did things go?" Darnell asked.

"Everything went just fine." Emma said. "And the party?"

"It was almost set." Darnell said rather grimly. "But we ran into some serious problems."

"What happened?" Emma asked. Darnell lead her to the lobby. Much to her shock, the Christmas tree was over on top of the table of food. The food had spilled all over the floor.

"What happened?" she yelled.

"We accidentally toppled the tree over and…"

"This is terrible!" Emma yelled. Alyssa and Joshua were still in the kitchen but they still heard the screaming all the same. Almost on instinct, the two ran to the lobby.

"Is eve- WOAH!" Joshua said.

"What happened?" Alyssa asked.

…

"Thank you." CR-S01 said. "You still haven't told me why it would be awkward."

"We don't have to tell why it would've been awkward!" Maria yelled. Everyone in the store looked in surprised. Of course, Maria got embarrassed from losing her temper once again and walked out. CR-S01 didn't really understand what was going on but followed out with Maria, ignoring the whispers behind them.

"Is it always like this with you two?" Ian asked.

"Yes." CR-S01 answered. "But no one really reacts."

"Maybe it's because it always happens at work." Ian thought quietly.

"Why are you even here?" Maria asked.

"…"

Maria grumbled.

"Can you say that again?" CR-S01 asked. We didn't hear-" Ian glared at CR-S01 the same look Maria and Gabriel had whenever they wanted him to be quiet about something. CR-S01 couldn't help but react the same way he always had, keep quiet.

"Well then," Ian said. "I'll be going then. Merry Christmas to the two of you, I'm going home."

"Finally…" Maria muttered.

"If you have nothing to do, we're going to a Christmas party at Resurgem la-" CR-S01 said before Maria elbowed his stomach, silencing him.

"Hmmm." Ian thought. "I'll think about it." And the two saw him off.

"Why did you tell him that?" Maria yelled.

"I was doing it in the "Christmas spirit." CR-S01 answered. "Yeah?" Maria said. "Well, don't! Ever!"

CR-S01 was confused. "I thought-"

"Hup!" Maria shushed. "I don't want to hear it!"

"But-"

"SHUSH!"

CR-S01 looked down, both in confusion and slight guilt, which he didn't understand because, technically, he didn't do anything wrong. Still, he decided that since Maria was in this state, a very annoyed state, it'd be best for him to just stay silent until Maria's anger had cooled off.

"Hey you two!" Gabriel called. "Where were you guys?"

"Shopping." Maria answered.

"We saw Ian o- OOF!"

Gabriel and Tomoe jumped a bit after Maria delivered a right hook to the unsuspecting CR-S01 but the two still managed to understand what CR-S01 tried to say.

"So you two saw G-man, huh?" Gabriel commented. "Knowing you kid, you probably invited him to the party."

"Tried..." CR-S01 gasped in raspy voice. "But Maria stopped me…"

"Not liked it mattered." Maria grunted.

"Anyway," Tomoe said. "Let us go back to Resurgem. I promised Emma I'd help her later."

"We'll help t-. OOW!" CR-S01 suggested before being jabbed (Maria) and elbowed (Gabriel). "Will you two stop doing that to me?"

* * *

Woohoo! Suggest jokes, pranks and gifts for characters please!


	27. Chapter 27

To make things shorter, while everyone was busy doing something else. Away from the judgmental eyes, Tomoe agreed with CR-S01, saying it's the path of honor to help friends, much to the dismay of lazy Maria and Gabriel. On the way there, the two shoved, poke, annoyed, tripped, punched, elbowed, even noogie if possible, CR-S01, this time to his dismay. No matter though… CR-S01 has plans of his own. Anyway, back to the topic, the four just entered the room where the party was being held, no matter who you are, you definitely would have been surprised. Everyone was speechless. Technically, it wasn't a good surprise.

"What happened?" CR-S01 asked.

"Tree fell down." Darnell answered. "Please don't ask how this happened…"

"Darnell accidentally spilled water and when he tried to clean it up, he toppled the tree over." Emma said in slight, irritated tone. "Dr. Freebird went out to get some food but the decorations were destroyed when the tree fell."

"This looks like the strange ornaments in my basement." CR-S01 mentioned as he picked one broken piece up. "I wondered what that was for."

"Wait," Emma said. "do you still have them?"

"Yes." CR-S01 answered. "I thought of sel-"

"Don't care!" Emma said. "Doctor, could you go back and bring them here?"

"There are three boxes." CR-S01 said.

"Maria! Gabe! Go and help him!" Emma said. Almost acting like Maria, she shoved the three outside. "Don't come back unless you have them!"

"KACHAK* the door went.

"Emma." Tomoe said. "You seem a little stressed."

"Sorry about that Dr. Tachibana." Emma apologized. "But the party is going to start in two hours, it's not a lot of time and then I have Alyssa and Joshua to look after-"

"Alyssa and Joshua are here?" Tomoe asked.

"…Oops."

-Road-

"Looks like some people won't be able to enjoy the party." Gabriel pointed out. "Primarily us and everyone else who's fixing it."

"At least I now know what those glitters and figurines were for." CR-S01 said.

"How long till we get there?" Maria groaned.

"I don't really know." CR-S01 answered. "I don't have a watch to go by."

"A watch?" Maria said. "That's it!"

CR-S01 and Gabriel gave a puzzled look to Maria.

"You guys go without me, I'll catch up later!"

"Wha- Wait a minute!" Gabriel said, but his words went unheard as Maria ran off.

"Great." Gabriel said sarcastically. "Feel like carrying two boxes kid?"

-Resurgem-

"Thanks for the help Hanzou." Tomoe said. "Sorry call you out like this but we need all the help we can get."

"It's no problem at all Milady." Hanzou answered.

"Tomoe," Hank said. "You're here. That's good, I was worried since there were only few nurses and doctors left to help."

"Doctor, Gabe, and Maria should be back with the ornaments." Tomoe said. "Did you also know that Alyssa and Joshua were here?"

"Yes." Hank answered. "They were alone so I invited them here. I already called their parents so they'll come here during the Christmas party to pick them up."

"Why during the Christmas party?" Tomoe asked.

"Don't know." Hank answered with shrug. "Alyssa and Joshua told me to invite them."

"I suppose they want to enjoy Christmas them in a party." Tomoe speculated.

"That might explain why seemed so excited." Hank mentioned.

-CR-S01's house-

"This place is dusty!" Gabriel whined. "Do you ever clean this place?"

"Of course." CR-S01 answered. "But rarely have the time because my job."

"It's a lot cleaner than my office, I'll give you that." Gabriel said.

"Give me what?" CR-S01 asked, not understanding his comment.

"Nothing." Gabriel sighed.

"Here it is." CR-S01 said.

"I'm back you guys!"

"Not a moment too soon." Gabriel said. "Maria, we're over here!"

After that, the two heard footsteps followed by Maria popping up her head and cheerfully asking "What's up, guys!"

"Old items." CR-S01 answered plainly.

Gabriel chuckled a bit. "You do know she didn't mean that literally, right? And where did you go, Maria?"

"A nearby store." Maria answered, showing off a tiny, wrapped, rectangular box.

"What is it?" CR-S01 asked.

"I can't tell you what it is!" Maria said. "You don't tell a gift for two reasons, one- To keep it a surprise. Two- So no one blabs about it!"

"Blabs?" CR-S01 asked.

"So no one tells anyone else!" Maria said. "And you are terrible at keeping secrets. You just say it off by accident almost always!"

"She's got you there, kid." Gabriel said. "Remember when we planned a surprise birthday party for Tomoe and you "accidentally" told her two days before the party?"

"Or the time I accidentally broke a hospital window and a certain "someone" ratted me out?" Maria said angrily. Fully placing emphasis on "someone" as she did.

"Ratted?" CR-S01 said.

"Basically, kid," Gabriel said. "you're not someone we can trust to keep a secret."

CR-S01 felt a little hurt but he couldn't argue against them on that.

"Anyway," CR-S01 said. "Let's take these back to Resurgem."

-Resurgem- (Time left-30 min.)

"Finally!" Emma said. "Quick! There's only a minutes left to decorate."

"Leave that to me and Hanzou." Tomoe said. And within a blink of an eye, much to either the amazement or shock of everyone, the room was decorated. Even the tree.

"That's amazing, Tomoe!" Maria said.

"How did-" Gabriel stammered.

"Great!" Emma said. "Now all we have to do now is to prepare ourselves!"

* * *

How should end this? Hmm...


	28. Chapter 28

Miraculously, despite the mess, the party went with success. Everyone who came didn't even think a tree had fallen down in the room. Probably because the broken table was thrown out into the dumpster outside at the back of the hospital along with everything else that broke in the room. Since Emma never went to the back, no one would ever know about what went on that night.

"Merry Christmas you guys!" Emma said. "Thanks to you guys, the party went on with success."

No one except Tomoe, Hanzou and Hank heard it. CR-S01, Maria, and Gabriel were too tired from running to the hospital carrying three boxes of decor.

"So do we give the Secret Santa now?" CR-S01 asked.

"Nope." Emma answered. "Not until Esha says so."

"So what do we do until then?" CR-S01 turned, once again, to Maria since Emma left after answering the surgeon's question. Maria shrugged.

"I don't know. Anything." Maria said. "Walk around, chat, drink-"

"I don't drink alcohol." CR-S01 intervened. Everyone that heard it, by which I mean, Gabriel, looked at him in surprise.

"Seriously, kid?" Gabriel asked. "Not even once?"

"Of course!" CR-S01 answered back, almost quite determined. "I'm a doctor, an emergency could happen at anytime, I shouldn't intoxicate myself with something that interfere with my abilities!"

Gabriel and Maria both gave each a shifty look before nodding.

"That's something we'll have to change." Gabriel smirked.

Luckily CR-S01 had seen this on few occasions in the past and those looks meant one thing and one thing only, R-U-N. It wasn't long before CR-S01 made a mad dash through the crowded room, hoping to lose the two in the sea of people. It worked. Speaking of which, can you guys busy yourselves by imagining what currently is going on with those three, even add a hectic fight put up by CR-S01 or Hank defending that he has the right, and by all means, should stay sober, while I switch the point of view from the doctor's situation to the kids' situation.

-Alyssa and Joshua's P.O.V-

"Done!" the two cheered. "And just before the Christmas party too!"

"You might want to look outside Alyssa." Joshua said.

Alyssa peeked outside the door. Much to her surprise, a crowd was right outside. They were almost less than an inch away from the closest person. It wasn't soon before Alyssa poked her head back inside the room.

"When did all these people get here?" Alyssa asked.

"I'm more surprised we didn't notice them until them until now." Joshua said. "We got too engrossed I guess."

"We better clean up." Alyssa suggested.

"Yeah," Joshua agreed. "if the nurses and doctors saw this, they'd be pretty angry."

They were right. The icing was made from scratch and the two were excited so…I'll leave that to your imagination.

As they turned their backs to clean the mess, much to their surprise, a black haired surgeon ran into the room, shutting the door before placing a rolling pin between the two handles. They had never seen anyone before run so fast to a drawer just to get a rolling pin and back.

"Umm…" the two said. CR-S01 looked back in surprise.

"When did you-" then CR-S01 looked around in surprise, "What happened in this room?"

Alyssa and Joshua looked nervously at each.

"Well, why are you here?"

CR-S01 soon became nervous after the two asked the question.

"Hey," a voice from outside said. It was Gabriel's. "have you seen the kid?"

"No. Why?"

Alyssa was about to open her mouth before CR-S01 suddenly shook his head. Joshua and Alyssa got the idea and nodded. Gabriel and Maria didn't seem to notice him because they walked pass the door without stopping to look back. CR-S01 sighed in relief.

"Maria and Gabriel are forcing me- I'll tell you when you're 16." on the side, CR-S01 muttered "The drinking age..."

"We were making cake." the two answered, purposely ignoring the rest of CR-S01 's statement.

"I'll help you two clean up." CR-S01 stated. "But why were you two baking a cake?"

"It's for Naomi, Joshua's mom, and the bushy doctor." Alyssa answered.

"Bushy?" CR-S01 asked in confusion. "You mean, Dr. Cunningham?"

"Yeah." Joshua said.

"I think we should put it in the fridge to keep it from spoiling." CR-S01 said. "I'll go get the cleaning supplies, I trust you two can wash the utensils yourselves?"

"Of course!" the two said. CR-S01 left to the back.

-Meanwhile (elsewhere)-

"Have you seen the kid?" Gabriel asked.

"Why?"

"No reason." Gabriel answered.

"I'm not sure… You've got that look on your face. The one that says you're planning to do something-"

"You're imagining things." Gabriel interfered.

-Meanwhile ( another elsewhere)-

"Honestly," Lisa huffed. "I wish Joshua would tell me his plans beforehand. Why did he take after his father?"

It was lucky Joshua had a cell phone. He got one after Alyssa disappeared on Halloween. Apparently during Alyssa's attempt to find Naomi, she wandered around telling other kids her predicament before asking about Naomi and leaving since no one knew who she was. Then those kids told their parents. It didn't help that Alyssa told several parents as well about her predicament. If you're asking why no one sent her to the police about a lost child, my answer is that they did. But Alyssa had a tendency of being impatient and ran off before they came back with an officer. So a lot of people ended getting glares, warnings, and laughs from police who said "Haha, good one.", "Is this your idea of a joke?", or "What girl?"

It was pretty hectic for some people and officers. Especially since some officers got called more than once about Alyssa and some people called the police more than once since Alyssa ran in circles sometimes. All one can say is that after that, every parent bought their kid a cell phone to make sure their children wouldn't get lost.

"Where is this address anyw-" Lisa said before staring in front of the hospital. Now she got it. Ever since Mother's Day, Joshua (with help from Alyssa at times) had been trying to find out how she and Gabriel knew each other. In counting, this may be the 110th plan they've tried. Still, she decided to try to humor her son a little or at least find a way to finally stop her son's attempts to find out their relation. Luckily, she already made a plan just in case.

* * *

It's almost finished. I don't know when or how though.


	29. Chapter 29

-Kitchen-

"Looks like everything's clean." CR-S01 said. He was pretty surprised at how fast the two children clean. "So how do you two plan giving them cake?" CR-S01 asked.

Alyssa and Joshua grinned at each other. "We invited them here!"

-Naomi and Navel's P.O.V-

"Can't criminals just stop stealing, killing, or whatever?" Navel ranted to the night sky.

"I highly doubt it." Naomi said. "Just be glad we got off work early. Alyssa called me an hour ago asking me to come the Christmas party at Resurgem."

"Christmas parties. Now that's something to look forward to!" Navel grinned. "That party at CIFM was insane."

Naomi only rolled her in response.

"That reminds me, thanks for the scarf Dr. Kimishima." Navel said.

"Thanks for this, umm…." Naomi said while staring at the tape. "What is this?".

"It's the very first album of Ben Frank with his autograph on it!" Navel said excitedly with a hint of pride glowing in his eyes. "I was totally blown away when I found it while cleaning my basement. Of course, I didn't know what to do with it. At first I thought-"

Naomi groaned as she began to regret asking her question.

-Resurgem-

"Have you seen the moron?" Maria grumbled.

"No."

"Dammit!" Maria said before running off. Meanwhile, CR-S01 was watching the party from afar, hiding behind a room at the end of the hall connected to the cafeteria. Even he had to admit, he didn't expect to spend his first Christmas hiding from two of his friends. Of course, now, he was starting to wonder if Maria and Gabriel were his friends.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alyssa asked. "We've been hiding here for an hour."

"You two don't have to hide here with me." CR-S01 said. "Besides, I thought you both were suppose to give your mothers the cake."

Joshua and Alyssa widened their eyes and quickly disappeared from the room. CR-S01 was surprised at how fast and quietly they did it, not forgetting to close the door behind them. CR-S01 felt a little lonely now. "What time is it now anyway?" CR-S01 muttered to himself.

*The time now is approximately 08:43 pm.*

CR-S01 jolted from the voice in shock.

*My sensors detect tachycardia. May I recommend the use of adenosine?*

"W-Who said that?" CR-S01 asked.

*I am not a who. I am a what.*

"Okay," CR-S01 said. "What are you?"

*I am Rapid Operation Networked Intelligence or RONI as many people refer to me.*

"Oh, Dr. Cunningham's assistant, or computer." CR-S01 said. CR-S01 remembered Gabriel introducing RONI during the Rosalia outbreak. Though it was unintentional since all Gabriel did was call out RONI's name. Still, CR-S01 was never use to talking to anyone else except for Gabriel, Maria, Tomoe, Hank, and several others. Three at most, so CR-S01 wasn't really use to talking with normal people, let alone a Rapid Operate- or was Operation?…whatever it was RONI called itself. On the bright side, at least it wasn't lonely anymore, now it was replaced with a weird atmosphere.

Meanwhile, as CR-S01 remained in hiding in Gabriel's office, Maria and Gabriel were still busy looking for the surgeon.

"That's it." Gabriel said. "Hey Hank, Tomoe."

"What is it?" Hank asked.

"Have you two seen the kid?" Gabriel asked. "Me and Maria decided to scare the kid a little but now we can't find him anywhere."

Tomoe and Hank stared at the two.

"Again?" Tomoe finally said. "Don't you two remember what happened last time you guys scared by making him think you guys were going to force him to do something obnoxious?"

"We thought the twit wouldn't fall for it." Maria said. For those who don't know, at one point, Gabriel and Maria decided to play a trick on CR-S01 at one point. They decided to scare CR-S01 by making him think they plotting to do something to him. It worked, too well. Apparently, one trait about CR-S01 that no one, not even Ian, knew about CR-S01 was that he good at hiding, really good. It took them and Ian an entire day or so to find him. Some of them even believed for a minute that he had actually escaped. From then on, everyone swore off not to do anything like that again. Ian sort of forced them to do it since a lot of FBI agents and hospital staff contributed to the full day search. There were about as much complaints as there were hate mails since the FBI did think that CR-S01 had escaped and searched the entire of Portland and several other nearby counties for the entire day. Kind off anticlimactic when they found him asleep in the hospital's library after spending the entire night, wondering where everyone went and from reading medical books the next morning. It was also because that incident, they decided to give him the tracker on his ankle in the first place. The truth of the matter was that Maria and Gabriel forgot. So now history was repeating itself, except this time, they knew how to get him to come out. And nothing says 'come out!' to a doctor more than an emergency.

"You do know he's going to kill you two after this." Hank said.

"Don't worry," Gabriel said. "We'll just have to keep away from him till he calms down."

Hank and Tomoe gave each other an awkward look and sighed. Meanwhile, as if on cue, CR-S01's spine tingled.

*Is something wrong Doctor?* RONI asked.

"Nothing." CR-S011 replied hesitantly. "I just felt a disturbance for some reason."

"And why do I feel like killing two people for some reason?" he thought in the back of his mind.

*Doctor. My sensors indicate a sudden in blood pressure. May I recommend the use of -*

But CR-S01 couldn't hear the rest of it. RONI's was drowned by a loud screaming from outside that made jump.

"Oh my God! Someone help! He's just been hit by a car!"

That set CR-S01's senses up and before he knew it, rushed outside to see if the patient was alright.

* * *

The short story written up there has not been written yet. Oh, and no one saw CR cuz he hid to keep from being seen but stayed where he thought the other doctors could find him so the FBI won't think he escaped like last time.


	30. Chapter 30

CR-S01 glared angrily at the four. He expected this kind of antic from Maria and Gabriel but Tomoe and Hank! What was the world coming to? It didn't matter now. What mattered was reasonable explanation, they better have because CR-S01 was starting to have a few of his revenge plots playing out in his mind again.

"Well…" Gabriel began. The atmosphere was very awkward.

"I'm waiting." CR-S01 said angrily. Gabriel and Maria explained what the explained to Tomoe and Hank in the previous chapter. As they went on, the small, dark, evil part of CR-S01 that's been buried deep, deep, deep down inside, which I like call "homicidal rage" began grow little by little. It is also because of this, I must skip the more detailed versions of what went on in CR-S01 brain for obvious purposes. So let's skip to when they finished. Not that a difference was made, when they were done, CR-S01 stared at them. No anger, no sadness, no shock, just a blank stare that even Gabriel couldn't. This kind of thing has never happened before so he couldn't tell if the kid was very, very angry or…

"It's almost Secret Santa time! C'mon you guys!"

"Coming..." CR-S01 answered drearily. "You all go ahead… I'm going to be busy for a while…"

Everyone was scared now. No one had ever seen CR-S01 this mad before. It even tops him from April first.

-Inside the lobby-

"I told you." Hank said. "Now you two have really done it."

Tomoe merely sghed heavily. In truth, she didn't care anymore. No matter how many times they would tell them, they would still continue with their shenanigans until it pushed the doctor a little too far. Of course, it obviously was a sign of friendship(Tomoe hoped) whenever they pestered CR-S01, like an older sibling to the younger one at times. But CR-S01 didn't know that, to him, it was just pestering. It didn't matter explaining to him about it either, they tried at one point but he just couldn't understand. Tomoe didn't blame him for that, she didn't get it either.

"What are you going two doing now?" Tomoe asked.

"Hello." CR-S01 said from behind, making everyone jump. "Did I do something wrong?"

"N-No. You just scared us." Gabriel muttered.

"What?" CR-S01 asked.

"Nothing!" Gabriel said. CR-S01 raised an eyebrow and left. "It's only been fifteen minutes and he already has me on the edge."

"Some how, he's putting more pressure on me by doing nothing than my job." Maria said.

"Thirty more minutes before Secret Santa time." Esha announced.

"Great." Gabriel said sarcastically.

"Same here." two dreary people in the back said. Gabriel immediately recognized the two voices. "Lisa! Naomi!"

"And Navel." the blonde interrupted. Everyone ultimately ignored him.

"What are you two doing here?" Gabriel asked.

"Ask them." the answered, showing Gabriel the two, nervous kids.

"Joshua… Alyssa…" Gabriel thought. "I should have guessed…Wait, how did you two even get here?"

"Dr. Freebird brought us here." the two answered. Gabriel gave a quick glare to Hank, who walked off hastily.

"Why are you two here?" Gabriel asked in an irritated tone.

"I still exist."

"We wanted to give you guys a Christmas gift." Alyssa said in a sad tone. Complete with tears in her eyes. Joshua and Alyssa have gotten smarter over the times they've failed in their missions, which most adults call, "their antics," they began planning on what to do for whenever they would get caught. They soon found the best tactic, to get away from being grounded, guilt. And boy, did it work. Gabriel started feel horrible in no time while the two mothers glared angrily at him.

"Um, no, it's alright if that's the case." Gabriel stammered quickly.

"Umm, hello?"

"Ah well," Lisa said. "Since everyone's already here, why don't we all just enjoy the party?"

Lisa might have been okay with it, but not Naomi. You know how those new, motherly instincts are.

"You guys are just going to ignore me aren't you?" Navel said. "Fine, I'll just go somewhere else…"

As they walked away, Alyssa and Joshua grinned at each. "Nice acting, Alyssa."

"Thanks." Alyssa grinned.

Soon, the two saw a doctor tying something to a door knob. "Doctor?" the two asked.

"Hello." CR-S01 said.

"What are you doing?" the two asked.

"Something childish." CR-S01 answered. "Whatever you to do now, don't open the door."

"Why?" the two asked.

"One more thing," CR-S01 asked. "Could you not tell anyone about this?" Alyssa and Joshua looked at each other and shrugged. "Okay."

"Thanks." CR-S01 said. "As for the previous question, I guess it's sort of a prank."

"Prank?" the two said in surprise. They wanted to ask again but CR-S01 already left. The two looked at each other with uncertain looks. "Maybe we didn't hear it, right?" Alyssa said.

"Yeah," Joshua said. "It doesn't sound like him at all."

…

"Wait! The Cake!" the two said.

-Meanwhile..-

"Merry Christmas!" the two said to their parents.

"Thanks." everyone said drearily. They only stayed because the children wouldn't let them leave. They say it's ridiculous but they somehow had this strange hold over them. They knew it but there was nothing they could do. Disgraceful… a medical examiner whom the FBI need help from and a genius diagnostician losing to a child? What else can you call it? Well, there's also pathetic… As for Lisa, she was happy that Joshua stopped trying to trick her into telling them about their past. Navel was enjoying himself too, he was surrounded by all the nurses, chatting with him about his work as an FBI agent. Elsewhere, Maria and Tomoe were chatting.

"I'm guessing you've learned your lesson?" Tomoe asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Maria shrugged off. "I'm just going to watch out for whatever it is CR-S01 was planning to do."

"C'mon Maria." Tomoe said. "You know how he is. He wants to get into the Christmas spirit, there's no way he'll stoop to something childish."

"I guess…" Maria said doubtfully.

"Just go apologize, I'm sure it'll work out." Tomoe said.

"It's time people!" Esha said. "Time to exchange gifts!"

"Bye Tomoe!" Maria said. Tomoe smiled and went off to look for CR-S01.

"Merry Christmas Hank!" Maria grinned.

"Oh, a watch." Hank said.

"Yeah," Maria said. "I figured it might help because you're always late for some reason."

"Thanks." Hank said. If only they knew why he was always late. "Have you seen Gabriel? I have his gift here."

"You got Gabe?" Maria laughed. "I think I saw him with Joshua a while ago."

"You're looking for Dr. Cunningham?" Emma asked. "He's over there eating cake."

"Cake?" Maria said. "I thought they ran out!" Emma wanted to say it was a Christmas gift but Maria sped off too fast for her to catch up. Hank sighed and walked off. Gabriel was chewing the cake. He hated to admit it was good, or maybe it because he had eaten nothing but sandwiches and instant noodles for the last couple of months. What? Cooking's pretty hard you know, especially if you stay at a hospital more than you stay at home.

"Gabe, there's Christmas cake left?" Maria yelled suddenly from the back. Gabriel nearly choked.

"Maria, don't do that!" Gabriel said. "Besides, this a Christmas gift."

"From who?" Maria growled at the thought that someone didn't get her gift.

"Joshua and Alyssa." Gabriel answered.

"Aaw." Maria cooed. "Aren't you happy to have on like Jos-" Around that time, Gabriel saw Joshua come and quickly cut Maria off before she could say anything.

"How was-"

"You didn't hear anything, right?" Gabriel asked suddenly. Joshua cocked his head sideways a bit with a curious look.

"Umm, no?" he answered hesitantly. "How was our gift?"

"Good." Gabriel answered immediately. Joshua raised an eyebrow before walking away. Gabriel sighed in relief.

"Joshua's your son?" Alyssa asked blankly in shock from behind. The three looked behind them and stared in shock. After a few minutes, Alyssa yelled at Joshua's name and was about to run tell him but Gabriel stopped her.

"What's up Alyssa?" Joshua said as he came back.

"Nothing!" Gabriel said.

"Joshua, Dr-"

"Don't listen to her!"

"He's your-"

"Ignore her!"

Hank butted in. "Umm, maybe we should go." Joshua nodded in agreement. But even after they left, Maria, Alyssa and Gabriel kept fighting. Alyssa tried to get away to tell Joshua while the two tried to keep her quiet. Finally the two gasped in exhaustion.

"How come Joshua can't know that you're his dad?" Alyssa asked.

"It's…complicated." Gabriel answered.

"Complicated how?" Alyssa asked back.

"It's adult stuff!" Gabriel said. "Just please keep this a secret for now!" Alyssa looked at him before pondering.

"Alright but only if you promise to tell Joshua yourself within three years or I'll tell him myself!" Alyssa said. Gabriel glared at her. He cursed underneath his breath at the fact at how a kid managed to push him into the corner like a lawyer.

"…Fine." Gabriel grudgingly agreed.

"Oh hey," Tomoe said to CR-S01. "Where were you?"

"Just strolling outside." CR-S01 answered plainly.

"I almost forgot," Tomoe said. "Here's your Christmas gift." CR-S01 gave a quizzical look before realizing the time thanks to the clock on the wall.

"Thanks." CR-S01 said. "Here's yours I suppose."

Tomoe was I bit surprised the coincidence once CR-S01 revealed that he got Tomoe for his Secret Santa. Once the two unwrapped each other gifts, the two heard a grumbling noise. Somewhere else, Gabriel met up with Hank and he got his gift. It was a picture frame, much to Gabriel's disdain. Now Hank was lecturing him about his family and Joshua. Just what he needed after losing to a nine year-old girl, really. Where'd she even learn to debate like that anyway?

"A brooch." Tomoe said happily. She had no idea why but had a weakness for accessories like this. CR-S01 was happy Maria helped him. But he couldn't help but stare in surprise at his gift.

"Uuh…"

"It's a photo album." Tomoe said. "Since I thought you can't remember anything from your past I thought could fill this one up with new ones." Under normal circumstances, CR-S01 should happy but he still remembered one important thing Tomoe didn't know about, how was he suppose to fill the album without a camera? CR-S01 sighed a bit. Now he had to buy a new camera.

"A belt bag? It's better than last year's gift I guess…"

CR-S01 mentally rejoiced that Gabriel had given Maria something else instead though some part of him told him that Gabriel had only done it for personal reasons. As midnight drew closer, slowly one after the other left. CR-S01 left eventually with the last thing he could remember was blonde man asking Alyssa where his gift was before sulking and muttering something about being forgotten or ignored.

-Next morning-

CR-S01 was an early bird thanks to his time in the prison. He was done with everything and was heading his way to Resurgem when he saw letters on the floor. CR-S01 thought it was strange because he never gets mail. Not since he was free at least. Ironically enough, back when he was in prison he got heaps of letters every once a week. Go figure CR-S01 thought to himself before proceeding to read them. He wasn't in any hurry anyway since no one was there when he came except the guards. Also he was a speed reader. The first one was from Tomoe asking if he enjoyed the Christmas party. The second was from Hank saying thanks for lending them the ornaments and that some got broken or went missing. CR-S01 shrugged and went to the next letter. It was from Maria and Gabriel. It said Merry Christmas though it had a tiny anagram at lower left of the envelope. What does "SOZ" mean? CR-S01 opened it and was surprised to find a photo of everyone in Resurgem, even him. He still remembered it. Before they took him away after the Rosalia outbreak, Maria whined about taking photo celebrating their victory over the parasitic virus. After some talking to by Gabriel(which seemed to make Holden angry) they took a photo together before Maria scolded him to smile. CR-S01 thought for a few minutes before placing it in Tomoe's album he had places in book rack in the living. He went back to read the last letter before throwing it away. It from Esha warning about an unknown hooligan/s who clogged the exhaust pipe of Maria motorcycle and rigged a trap in Gabriel's office. He was glad he wore gloves that night.

* * *

C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E! Sorry for the delay and ending. I'm not good at endings.


	31. pls adopt

Umm... yeah. This isn't a story. It's just a statement. I canceled two of my stories leaving only this story left. My reason? I realized I can't make stories in genres I'm not good so decided to focus ones I know will be good. As for bet Pokemon adventures, I doubt it'll be missed but it might be different for Bet. So decided to say that bet along some other ideas i came up while finishing Holiday are now up for adoption, a concept I got from one of the reviewers. You can find the list of stories in my profile and you are free to change it if you like but please send me what story you are getting so a second recreation will not be made.

-pokemonorochi


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